


Silence

by spacedadvader



Series: the Silence Trilogy [1]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Fluff, Gun Violence, Guns, M/M, No Smut, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Rebellion, Sibling Love, literally only one straight relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-09-18 04:56:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 34
Words: 40,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16988448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedadvader/pseuds/spacedadvader
Summary: Lucas and his sister Hailey grew up in Battery City, a place completely under the influence of Better Living Industries. Fortunately for them, their family was smart enough to realize that the company is evil, and were never brainwashed by their happy pills.However, their parents are still controlling, and all Lucas desires is to run away. So when the two are put in danger and are forced to leave, they do it as if they've done it a thousand times.But of course, nothing is as it seems. The two of them are thrown into an epic adventure of friendship, happiness, rebellion, and loss, that they know they can never look back from.And Lucas would have never expected to fall for Party Poison, BLI's Most Wanted.





	1. Prologue

_ The following is an excerpt from Better Living Industries' "12th Grade Recent History" textbook. _ __   
  
"Perhaps the most harrowing time for America was the Helium and Analog wars. The Helium War began when North Korea invented an atomic bomb that used nuclear fusion instead of fission, and fused hydrogen into helium. The war got its name when the enemy country loosed the bomb onto the state of California, nearly destroying it. This event is called the Fires of 2012. This began a war between two halves of the planet, but in 2015, our country's enemies won, and the economy was left in shambles. In the midst of the devastation, a corporation called Logos Incorporated, led by C.E.O. Edward Castellan, invented a series of weapons entitled the Analog models, which fired rays of electromagnetic energy instead of bullets, to try and overthrow the government and establish anarchy. They established an army, rightfully called Killjoys, to carry out the corporation's duties. Thankfully, Better Living Industries rushed in and prevented Logos Inc. from doing this. It took many battles to defeat them, which are now collectively called the Analog War. In the spring of 2016, BLI triumphed. The American government was so grateful for this action that they passed along their power to BLI. However, the country's land was left in nuclear waste, so BLI graciously constructed Battery City, a shining empire in which everyone is sheltered from the harsh conditions of the surrounding desert, and in which every citizen is accepted and equal."   
  
🌩   
  
_ From the personal accounts of the events of the Helium and Analog Wars by Edward Castellan (2018): _ __   
  
"I remember the wars as clearly as if they had transpired yesterday. The Helium War began with North Korea's invention of the Helium bomb, which fuses Hydrogen into Helium to create an explosion. They released the bomb over California, beginning the war. The event is now called the Fires of 2012. Of course, the Communists, having the advantage, won the war, ruining our economy. This sparked the attention of a rising industry, Better Living Industries to be exact, and they made many attempts to infiltrate the government from the inside. The corporation that I run, Logos Incorporated, was forced to create Analog weapons to try and prevent this, and then recruit a freedom fighter group entitled the Killjoys to help us. We made significant progress, but in early 2017, we were rendered unsuccessful. BLI had already destroyed the government from the inside and constructed a domed city for their capital, and America was no more. My corporation was dissolved and I was forced into hiding, while BLI was zombifying the populous with their emotional suppressant medication. I struggle every day to keep myself and my family safe, all the while trying to blend into the city and dislodge BLI at the same time. I have heard rumors that the Killjoys are still moving to support our cause, but that is highly unlikely, given the state of the surroundings of Battery City."


	2. 01.

As with every day, Lucas Castellan woke up to the sound of his father's shouting.

"Do you two plan on sleeping all day or what?" the voice yelled through his bedroom door.

"Coming, Dad!" His fifteen-year-old sister, Hailey, shouted back. The two were forced to share a bedroom because the other bedroom was used as an office, which Lucas thought was useless.

He reluctantly pulled himself out of bed and tried to be optimistic about the day, but it was nearly impossible to do so because as always, he felt trapped in his own life. Hailey was a different story. She always seemed to be on Cloud Nine, going into every day with a spring in her step. Lucas never understood that. He used to assume that it was just because she was young and didn't understand their predicament yet, but now she was old enough to think for herself, and yet it still went on.

"Luca, you coming?" Hailey's voice brought him back to the present.

Lucas shook his head to clear it, then stood up. "Yeah. And please don't call me that." When Hailey was a baby, she could never master the s sound, so instead of saying Lucas, she said Luca. The nickname had stuck for a while, but after he turned sixteen, he had tried to convince his family to stop calling him that. Two years later, and he still had to remind them.

Hailey turned left after exiting the bedroom to go to the kitchen, but Lucas walked straight across the hallway to the bathroom to check his appearance, as teenagers do.

When he arrived, the first thing he did was put in his contact lenses. The rest of his family had perfect eyesight, except him, which was troubling sometimes. You'd think he would have opted for eye surgery by now, and you'd be correct, except that his parents thought it unnatural and prohibited it. Other than this, he was exactly like every other eighteen-year-old boy you'd come across. His overlong blond hair was a mess, and his bright blue eyes were still drooping from sleep. He confirmed this as normal, ran a hand through his hair, and ventured into the kitchen, where the smell of waffles awaited him.

"Luca, honey, there you are!" his mother, Donna, greeted him. It's Lucas, he wanted to correct her, but she engulfed him in a hug before he could. She was about a foot shorter than him, so how she could still engulf him confused him.

"Hi Mom," he said lovingly, squeezing her in return. She, unlike his father, actually had sympathy for his concerns. However, he quickly let go once his father walked in.

"Alright, let's cut the pleasantries," he barked as he stiffly entered the kitchen. He sat down at the table, expecting his breakfast. Edward Castellan had always been a rich and powerful man, and never desired anything other than to win the constant legal battle that he was in with Better Living Industries. After the Helium and Analog Wars, however, he was forced to go into hiding. Now, he and his team of spies still advocate bringing freedom to the populous and are trying to bring BLI down from the inside. However, his claims of freedom seem to be null and void inside his own home.

Donna quickly rushed to him with a plate of waffles. "Good morning, sweetie."

"'Good morning,' she says," he mocked. "It's never a good morning in this city, what with all of the BLI scum running around." He bit into his waffle, swallowed, and scowled at Lucas. Once he had swallowed, he scolded his son, "How many times do I have to tell you that you need a haircut?"

Lucas ignored him but was grinning on the inside. He'd only decided to grow his hair out to annoy his father (although truth be told, he thought he looked good).

Once he finished his waffles, Lucas hopped from the table and wandered back to his room to get ready for school. A few minutes later, Hailey did the same. They both pulled on their customary white clothing and packed their bags. They bid their parents goodbye and exited the apartment to make the journey to school.

🌩

The school day passed by in a blur, as it always did. There were the usual lessons, which were all rewritten by BLI to fit their standards, and were never entirely true.

Then, of course, there is the constant effort to seem as if he had been taking his BLI issued "emotional control" pills every day. Whenever his "friends" mentioned BLI, he had to smile and agree that they were the best thing to happen to this country, when on the inside he wanted to scream that society had become a slave to them. He could not do that, however, because if he did, he would be arrested and have his memory wiped.

However, there was one memorable part of the day, and it came at the end.

Lucas and his "friend" Collin were walking out of the school when they overheard a group of kids talking about a terrorist attack. They kept mentioning Killjoys, which Lucas knew were Logos Inc's freedom fighters.

"Hey," he asked Collin, "What're they talking about? I thought the Killjoys all died."

Collin looked shocked. He leaned in and whispered, "We're not allowed to talk about it."

"Tell me," Lucas insisted, "Who's it hurting?"

Collin looked around, then pulled Lucas into an empty classroom. "You know how they always tell us that the Zones are uninhabitable?" he whispered almost inaudibly.

"Yeah," Lucas remembered all of the lectures he'd gotten from concerned teachers about it.

"Well, the rumor is that there are people living out there who want to destroy BLI." Collin looked distraught. "Why they would want to, I have no idea, but apparently they're out there. They call themselves Killjoys, just like the original army. They all have weird codenames so they don't get found by BLI. A couple of days ago, they raided a reformation center and kidnapped a bunch of patients."

Holy crap, Lucas thought. "And you think it's real?"

"Of course not," Collin scoffed. "BLI would never lie to us, Lucas." He said this with enough confidence that it was almost enough to make Lucas believe him.

But of course, he didn't.

"Excuse me," he said, and proceeded to sprint out of the school and towards his apartment building.

When he arrived (which was only a short time later, thanks to Lucas's being on his middle school track team), he walked in acting like nothing was wrong, then pulled his sister into their room when their mother wasn't looking.

"Have you heard any rumors about what's outside the city lately?"

"Do you mean the ones about the Killjoys?" Hailey said skeptically. "Yeah. It's impossible though, right?"

Lucas looked his sister in her sky blue eyes, which were the same shade as his. "After all the lies BLI's told us, are you really gonna believe that?"

Her jaw went slack a bit. "You're right!" She raised her voice significantly. "They could totally still be out there!"

"Shh!" He peeked out the door to see if Donna had heard, but she didn't look like she did. "Don't raise your voice like that!"

"Oh, okay," her voice returned to an almost-whisper. "So what do we do?"

"Well, we don't tell Dad, for starters," Lucas began. "We don't want him starting a war." He paused for a moment, and then, "I think we should run away."

He expected her to gasp in surprise, beg him not to go, deny anything he said, but she did none of that. She just nodded. "Yeah, we should."

He gaped at her. This was his little sister, who claimed to love her life and was always loyal to her parents? "Wait, I-" then he realized something. She was always acting happy, but she never supported or denied any of their father's claims, and always did as she was told. And she certainly never said anything about loving the situation she was in, unless they were in the presence of someone loyal to BLI. "I never knew you wanted to-"

"Everything I did was acting, Luca. I've never liked being trapped in here, constantly controlled. It's no better than being controlled by BLI! Of course I want to run!"

He didn't even correct her about his name.

🌩

That night, as the family ate dinner, they were all silent, until the usual small talk ensued.

"How was work, Honey?" Donna asked her husband.

"The usual B.S., you know," Edward responded nonchalantly.

"What about you, kids?" Donna turned to Lucas and Hailey.

"Fine," Lucas told her, then shared a look with his sister that told her all she needed to know. Hailey stayed quiet.

A few minutes later, when she had finished her food (bland, BLI-issued "instant meatloaf"), Hailey asked to be excused, and Lucas did the same. They headed to their bedroom, and he shut the door behind them.

"So, what's the plan?" Hailey asked casually, as if trying to escape Battery City is something people did on a daily basis.

"Well, I guess we pack," Lucas said, "I think we should do it when Mom and Dad are already asleep."

"Okay," Hailey agreed, already digging in their closet for their backpacks. "What do we need?"

"Clothes, obviously," Lucas told her, "Definitely something that'll cover our skin so we don't get radiation poisoning. We'll need water, probably food too."

Hailey pulled on a white zippered hoodie, and tossed Lucas his hoodie as well. Then she grabbed a couple of other articles from their dressers and shoved them into their respective backpacks.

Lucas turned to his bed, and felt around under it for a certain box. When he found it, he pulled it out and popped the lid open, to reveal two pristine ray guns, one black and one gray. He held the box out to Hailey. She looked surprised for a moment, then nodded, and placed the gray gun in his bag and the black in her own.

There was a loud crash.

The siblings darted to their door and peeked out of it. Their parents were still eating, it seemed, and their heads were also poised in the direction of the noise.

Then the front door was kicked in.


	3. 02.

Standing outside the door were seven Scarecrows, BLI's law enforcers, led by what seemed to be an Exterminator. They all knew this one. His name was Korse.

Edward attempted to look as if he wasn't scared for his life. This took no effort for Donna.

Korse proceeded to walk over to the table and survey them. "Hello there," he said maliciously.

"Hello, Mister Korse," Edward attempted to smile, "What brings you here?"

"Actually," Korse said matter-of-factly, "I believe it was your dear wife who called us in, to arrest you, no less."

It felt as if a boulder had sank to the bottom of Lucas's stomach. _This_ _can't_ _be_ _happening_ , he told himself, and squeezed his eyes shut, but when he dared to open them again, his father had been pulled from his chair and was kneeling on the ground with his hands above his head.

"Donna," Edward pleaded, "How could you-?"

"You don't exactly treat us very well," Donna said tonelessly. "Don't you think being happy all the time would be nice?"

Lucas realized then that his jaw was on the floor, and quickly closed his mouth. He couldn't possibly imagine his mother, the kindest person he knew, turning his father in for treason.

Korse put the barrel of his ray gun against Edward's head. "You know what the price of treason is," he said, grinning like a maniac, which he very likely was. "So, I might as well ask: any last words?"

The man gulped, then looked around the room, attempting to memorize every inch of it. He wasn't sure why he did it, but he felt it was necessary.

Then his eyes found his children, peeking their heads out of their bedroom. He looked his son in his eyes, and mouthed one word.

_Run._

So they did.

They pulled on their backpacks, and tiptoed out of the room, seemingly unnoticed.

They heard Korse saying: "Nothing? Okay then, I guess we'll just have to go through as normal." There was a blast, and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

Lucas had to use every ounce of his willpower not to cry out for his father. He hadn't been the kindest, but he was still family. And for that matter, where had his mother gone? This woman was nothing like her.

They ducked into their parents' room at the end of the hall, opened the window, and climbed out onto the fire escape.

Hailey went down first, climbing the ladder with ease and reaching the street level in record time. Lucas couldn't say the same for himself, but he gave it no mind, for once he landed, they both ran like hell.

He recalled having to memorize a map of the city for his Citizenship class in school and looked to the street signs to determine their best escape route. They were at the intersection of Fourth Street and Delta Avenue, so if they turned left...

Lucas grabbed his sister's hand and led her in the direction he knew to be correct, toward the city line. They had to stop running after a while, due to their lack of energy, but luckily for them, they had nearly gotten to the edge.

They had entered The Lobby.

They both immediately noticed the difference between this area and the rest of the city. This part hadn't been infested by BLI's control, so it more closely resembled the slums of a city before the Wars.

"What's going on," Hailey asked, seeming scared. "What is this place?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it's called the Lobby," Lucas told her. "It's like the slums."

"I don't think BLI would let that happen," Hailey said.

"Me neither, he agreed. He spotted an alley and pulled his sister into it to get their bearings.

Suddenly, they were both staring down the barrel of a gun.

They immediately put their hands up, and simultaneously said "Don't shoot!"

The gun (which happened to be a bright shade of purple) was being held by a small person, who was unidentifiable due to the hood covering their face. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" they asked sharply.

"We're not BLI!" Lucas pleaded. "I swear!"

"And how do I know you're telling the truth?" they snapped. "You could just be saying that to-"

"My name is Lucas Castellan," he interrupted, hoping that the stranger would recognize the name. "This is my sister Hailey. Our father is Edward Castellan, the CEO of-"

"Logos Inc?" The stranger's voice was softer now. The person pulled the hood off of their head, revealing a teenage girl with hair the same color as her gun and a pair of strangely decorated goggles pushed into it.

She looked the siblings over. "Well, you certainly look the part. You seem to match the description perfectly." She lowered her gun, switched the safety on, and shoved it into a holster tied to her leg. "What’s your intention here then, if you're not all brainwashed? I thought they would have made sure that someone like Castellan had at least been medicated."

"We want to get to the desert," Hailey told the strange girl. "We're gonna join the rebels."

"You wanna be Killjoys?" the girl asked, surprised. "Well, that doesn't happen every day. Usually, we have to send patrols in to pull people out-" she stopped and whipped her head around.

The siblings followed her gaze and saw that another person was entering the alley. This was a boy, whose hair was short and dyed a metallic silver.

He jumped when he saw the Castellans. "Al!" he shouted, and rushed to the girl. "There you are! Are you okay? Who are-"

"Ven, it's okay, they're not BLI," she assured him, then wrapped her arms around his waist. He returned the hug.

She then turned to the siblings, who were very confused, and said, "We're gonna get you out of here."


	4. 03.

"We're gonna what?" the boy, Ven, said in shock. "We don't even know who they are, let alone what their intentions are—"

"Actually, we know both of those," the girl, seemingly called Al, informed him. "They don't have malicious intent, and maybe if you looked a bit closer you could tell who they are."

Ven bent down and examined the siblings' faces. At first, his face was blank, as if he'd seen nothing wrong, but then his eyes widened and he gasped. "Holy shit, it's you!" he exclaimed. "Oh my god, what was it like to be associated with him?"

"W-what do you mean?" Lucas managed to stutter.

"Oh man," Ven stepped back and pushed a hand through his hair. "Your dad's famous, dude! Literally, everyone who's even mildly associated with the rebellion knows who you are!"

Lucas paled. "I— I don't—"

"It's okay," Al said, reaching up to put a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "We'll help you guys out. No one has to know who you are."

"But we don't know who you are," Hailey interjected, "Why should you help us?"

Al looked around for a moment, then she got close to the siblings and lowered her voice. "We're kinda incognito right now, so we'll have to tell you after we get out of here. For now just call me Al, and him Ven. Okay?"

"Alright, I guess," Lucas said.

"Cool!" She jumped away from them gleefully, then pulled her goggles off of her head. "Can one of you hold these?"

Lucas took the goggles from her and shoved them in his bag, then looked up to see that the two strangers were exiting the alley. He motioned to Hailey to follow them, and they jogged to catch up.

"Okay," Al said when they got close. "We've gotta make sure no one recognizes you, but also that you fit in with the Killjoys, both of which are pretty easy jobs. Just a warning, there'll probably be hair dye involved. 'Kay?"

"Ooh, okay!" Hailey agreed, excited at the prospect.

Lucas still wasn't sure about the whole thing. Everything was happening so fast, it was hard to believe he wasn't dreaming.

"We've also gotta get them names," Ven told his—partner? Friend? Companion? Commander? Lucas had no idea what their relationship was.

"Oh yeah." Al turned and started walking backwards to face the Castellans. "Did you guys ever do that thing where you and your friends at school came up with Killjoy names and pretended to be them?"

Lucas did remember doing something like that, but he couldn't remember what it was.

"Yeah," Hailey told Al. "I think it was something to do with the sun... Sunset! That was it!"

"Well kid, you're gonna need to add another word. Modern Killjoys work a bit differently."

Lucas' mind was still racing to remember. _Something to do with the weather... Lightning? No, too on-the-nose. Hurricane? Something like that—_ "Storm," he blurted out suddenly.

"Sunset Storm?" Al queried. "Eh, it's not the best."

"No, that was mine," Lucas clarified. "My name was Storm. I couldn't remember."

Al stopped walking as they came upon a crowded street, and the rest of the group followed suit. "You two can't go out there without an alibi, so we gotta work quickly. You," she said, pointing at Hailey. "Something cool, like.. Flash, how about that?"

"Sunset Flash," Hailey said, trying out the name. "Sounds pretty cool!"

"Alright!" Al grinned at her success. "Now for this guy," she looked at Lucas. "You're a bit harder to figure out. It's probably because you don't talk much—"

"Silent," Lucas told her. "You said I don't talk much, right?"

Al looked taken aback. "Well then," she resumed her grin, "Let's get this show on the road!"

She put her hood back on her head, stepped into the crowd, and motioned for the others to follow. Ven put his hood up as well before he followed. Lucas didn't think about what could happen if he didn't, so he didn't.

As they walked through the crowd, Lucas couldn't help but notice several people shooting them glances, then looking away and pretending they hadn't recognized them. He seconded his decision and pulled his hood over his face, shoving his hair into the hoodie as well. Hailey seemed just fine with being recognized, but Lucas nudged her to put up her hood anyway. She did so.

"This is all a little weird, isn't it?" he asked his sister.

"A little?" she responded with much sarcasm.

"Okay fine, it's really weird," he conceded. "We're being looked at, Hails—Sunset," he tried out the alias. "We've been celebrities this whole time and we never even knew."

"Dad never told us—" she choked up. "I—did he even know?"

"I dunno," he admitted, putting an arm around her. "I think it'll all turn out alright though."

"I sure hope so."

Al veered to the left, towards one of the many stores that lined the street. The rest of the group followed her. Lucas removed his arm from his sister's shoulders.

When they arrived in the store, Al closed the door behind them. The room was filled with shelves and racks that were in turn filled with every clothing item imaginable, as well as lots of accessories.

She sauntered up to the counter in the back, where a man was reading— _wait, is that a book? Like, with actual paper?_

"Hey Shann," Al greeted him, leaning on the counter.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite little pest Killjoy," he responded, coming out from behind the counter to give her what some would call a bro-hug. "Jay's been asking about you."

"Of course he has," Al rolled her eyes. "I think he misses the Zones subconsciously." She waved at Ven to come over, and he did.

"I dunno," the guy countered, "he claims to love it here. Oh hey, Ven." The two guys fist-bumped, then the man looked away from the Killjoys and noticed the other two people in the room. "Who are these two? Motorbabies?"

"Yup," Al responded. "Wanna join the family. 'S it alright if we raid the shop for a bit? We'll handle the carbons later."

"Sure thing, kid." He circled back to the other side of the counter. "Good luck with those two. It's likely the whole town already knows about them being here." He had never shown any sign of recognizing them, as if he'd known the whole time and hadn't been surprised. Suddenly, he stood up straight and full-on saluted Al. She gave him a two-finger salute in response as if it was perfectly normal.

She and Ven headed back over to the non-Killjoys. "That's Shannon," Al informed them. "He and his brother Jared run this place. They used to be 'Joys, but something bad happened, and now they're here. They're alright, though."

"Let's split up," Ven suggested. "I'll take Sunset."

"'Kay," Al replied, and Ven pulled Hailey away. "Looks like you're stuck with me, kid." she grinned at Lucas and darted between the racks. Lucas couldn't think of anything to do but follow. Al started rummaging around in the heaps of clothes.

Lucas felt that it was an alright time to ask some questions. "So... what happened to them?" he whispered. "Shannon and his brother, I mean, that made them leave the desert."

Al stopped digging and sighed. "They used to be in a gang," she whispered back. "It was the two of them and another guy. Their shows were always epic, man! But then one day last year, a 'Crow patrol got 'em, and the other guy got caught in the crossfire." She paused again. "He was a medic, you know. He never wanted to fight, or kill, or defeat anything. He just wanted to help his friends."

Lucas was stunned into silence. "Do things like that happen all the time?" he asked after a bit.

"Not if I can help it, kid," Al reassured.

"What was his name?"

"I never knew his real one, but his Killjoy codename was Modern Myth. Shannon was Night Hunter, Jared was Capricorn." She seemed to shrug it off and continued to rummage. She pulled a light blue denim vest off of the rack. "Something like this, maybe?"

"Sure," Lucas said, though he was still indifferent about everything that was happening. _What have I gotten myself into? People die out here..._

They continued to traverse the store until Lucas had picked out a full outfit.

"There's a couple of bathrooms back there," Al told him, "You should change now."

"Okay," he said tonelessly, and walked to the back of the store.

He continued to question his decision. He knew that the Killjoys' intentions were good, but he didn't want to put his sister into a situation where they could be hurt or killed at any time. Could they really trust the mysterious Al and Ven? Then he considered the positives. The two Killjoys they'd met seemed like good people, and once they got out there, they'd be fighting for the freedom of tens of thousands of people. Deep down, he knew that he wanted to do this.

When he looked at his reflection, he didn't see himself. Well, not as he had been. This person wore ripped jeans and combat boots, and stood confidently, like he didn't care about what anyone else thought of him.

He wasn't Lucas Castellan anymore, whether he liked it or not. He was Silent Storm.


	5. 04.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Al exclaimed when Storm entered the room again. "Lookin' shiny, man!"

"Shiny?" he queried.

"Oh yeah, you're new," she apologized. "When something's shiny, it's like, cool or awesome."

"Oh, okay," Storm said. _It's weird thinking of myself as a Killjoy_ , he thought.

The door next to him opened, and- _wait, is that Hailey?_

She looked as if she'd been a Killjoy her whole life, though the bright orange jacket was a bit much in Storm's opinion. She also stood differently, as if she could take on the world if she wanted to.

"Whoa, kid," Al remarked. "If i didn't have a boyfriend, I'd say you're hot, but-"

Ven cleared his throat.

"I said if!" Al said again.

"Allie!" a new voice from behind them said. Another man had entered, and was holding his arms out to Al. _This must be Jared_ , Storm thought.

"Jay, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Al griped, then hugged him anyway. "Where have you been? We've been here since 1500 hours."

"Sorry, I was talking to Dustin about business and shit," Jared told her, then eyed the two newcomers. "Ah, picked up some greenies today, I see."

"This is Storm and Sunset," Al said, gesturing to each of them, "and actually, they got out on their own."

Jared's eyes widened. "Really?" Al nodded, grinning. "Destroya, when was the last time that happened?" He looked shell shocked. _Destroya?_ Storm wondered.

"Actually, the last one might have been me," Al said with a wink. "The rest were pulled out by other 'Joys."

"Wow, okay." He seemed to accept the idea, then turned to the new Killjoys. "Jared Leto, at your service." He held his hand out to Storm.

"Luc- I mean, Storm," he stuttered and shook the other man's hand.

"Wait," Jared seemed to do a double take. "What were you about to say?"

Al pulled him away and whispered in his ear.

"Holy shit! It is them!" Jared exclaimed after looking them over once more. He addressed Al, "How'd you find these two? Wait, you said they escaped on their own?"

Storm felt his face heat up. This was to be expected, he knew, but he'd never experienced it before.

"Yup," Al told Jared. "They were just wandering around at the edge. I thought they were BLI at first, so I jumped them, then they told me who they are and I recognized them."

"You've got to make sure they can't be recognized," Jared told Al, concerned. "They probably already have targets on their backs."

"We'll handle that when we get out there," Al assured. "We'll stop by Tommy's."

"How's everyone doing, by the way?" Jared asked casually. "Haven't seen the guys in a while."

"The Four just released their record," Al reported. "They're still managing the Girl, which I'm surprised about. The Suitehearts are still making mischief, as expected. Dr. D and Pony still play you guys' songs sometimes. I've been hearing about a kid called Mad Gear, who apparently hallucinates a drummer on stage with him when he's singing. That's pretty much it."

Jared stared blankly for a second. "I miss it out there," he said wistfully. "But I don't think we'd be able to handle ourselves without-" he choked up.

"Hey," Al put an arm around Jared, which Storm wouldn't think possible, given her size. "It's alright. He's with the Witch now, and it was the best thing for you guys to come here. He'd want you to be safe."

Jared sniffed. "I know. Thanks." He stood up straighter.

"I'm here for you," Al reminded him. "It wouldn't hurt for you to call me every once in a while, either!" she joked.

"Shut up," Jared gave her a playful shove. "Now you better get out there, Mama Jet will want you home before 2200."

"Oh alright," Al grinned. "See ya, Jay."

Jared saluted her. _What is going on here?_ Storm was confused.

The group headed back to the front of the store to wait for Ven, who had disappeared somewhere. He soon appeared from between the shelves, holding something in his hand. "You're gonna need these," he said, handing a pair of mirrored sunglasses out to Sunset and a bandanna to Storm. "Unless you want the whole of the slums knowing who and where you are."

Storm carefully tied the cloth around his mouth and nose, and then the group ventured back onto the street. Storm looked around, and noticed that they weren't getting as many pretending-not-to-looks as before. _Thank goodness_.

After a while of Al maneuvering the group through the crowd, they reached a street that was nearly empty, and took a right onto it. The buildings were covered in graffiti and looked like they had never received maintenance.

They kept walking until they reached a staircase that went down under the sidewalk. "This is our way out of here." Al gestured toward it. She smirked. "The Getaway Mile." She grinned and hopped down the steps into the darkness.

Sunset whispered to Ven, "What exactly does she mean?"

"It's a mile-long tunnel that leads out into the Zones," Ven replied. "It's called that because Killjoy patrols go through here to pull people out of the city. Our van is parked at the exit."

"Oh, and by the way," Al popped back out of the tunnel. "You must still be wondering who we are." She pulled her hoodie off and traded it with Ven for a black leather jacket. She pulled it on with a grace that showed that she'd been doing it for years. She asked Ven, "You wanna go first, babe?"

He shrugged. "My name's Violent Vendetta, and I'm this little shit's boyfriend." Al punched him in the shoulder, but he hid his wince of pain with a playful grin.

The purple-haired killjoy pulled her goggles off of her head, ran her fingers through her hair, then placed the goggles in their former position. "My name is Atomic Alien," she said smugly, "and I'm the motherfucking leader of the Killjoys."

The siblings gaped at her. She only grinned, as if this happened every day. "Any questions?"


	6. 05.

"So, leader of the Killjoys, huh?" Sunset asked Alien as they trudged down the tunnel that led to Zone 1.   
  
"The one and only," she replied with a grin. "That's why I didn't want anyone in there to see me. You don't know who could be undercover for BLI."   
  
"How'd you get there?" Sunset continued. "You're pretty young, right?"   
  
"I mean, I'm sixteen," Alien replied. "To be fair, everyone out there is between thirteen and twenty."   
  
"To be fair," Vendetta contradicted, "you are the first and only person who lived in Bat City center and never even tasted BLI's happy pills. And," Vendetta continued, "you represent everything that we stand for better than anyone else in the Zones. You have color, energy, emotion... you deserve it!"   
  
"Always so sweet," Alien smiled, then stood on her toes to kiss her boyfriend.   
  
Storm watched this in wonderment. He hadn't seen anyone act like they were friends with each other in years, let alone people who were in love. As a kid, his friends at school would talk about which girls they thought were cute and which ones they'd ask out, and he would always play along. However, he was pretty sure that what he imagined a relationship to be like didn't involve girls at all. But he still couldn't be sure, since most of his teenage years had been spent in a world where love didn't even exist.   
  
"Hey Stormy," Alien leaned her arm on Storm's shoulder. "You've been quiet. Anything going on?"   
  
"Nothing," he told her, "just thinking."   
  
"What about, if you don't mind me asking?"   
  
"Still nothing," he said, not knowing whether he was lying or not. He really didn't know if the topic was important to him or not.   
  
"That's alright," Alien said gleefully. "What about you, Sunny? Any more questions?"   
  
"How did you never take the pills?" Sunset pressed. "How did you get out? When was it? How old were you?"   
  
"Wow, okay," Alien seemed surprised by the questions. "Basically, I was a stubborn twelve-year-old who hated swallowing pills, so I only pretended to. I learned how to act like everyone else for the time being until I met this one," she gestured to Vendetta. "He had been planning to get out for a while, so I tagged along. It was late 2016 when we got out, I believe, and I was thirteen. Ven was fourteen."   
  
Sunset's eyes sparkled. "You're awesome!"   
  
"Aww, kid," Alien put her hand on her chest. "You don't have to-"   
  
"Wait, be quiet," Storm shushed her. "Do you see that?" He pointed at a spot on the horizon of the end of the tunnel.   
  
Sure enough, there was a dot there. It was inconspicuous at this point, and if Storm had been invested in the conversation between the other Killjoys, he wouldn't have spotted it. However, if they had gotten any closer-   
  
Alien cursed under her breath. "It's probably a BLI toll booth. We're not gonna be able to get out this way."   
  
"We should turn around then," Vendetta reminded his girlfriend.   
  
The purple-haired Killjoy rolled her eyes. "Oh really, babe? I didn't know." She grinned. He flipped her off.   
  
Alien walked two steps forward, then spun on her heel in a half-circle towards the near end of the tunnel. The other three followed.   
  
When they reached the staircase, Alien took what looked like a radio communicator from her pocket and spoke into it.   
  
"Atomic Alien to Killer King, do you read?"   
  
_"You forgot to say 'over'. Over,"_ a voice crackled through the machine.   
  
"Seriously, Killer?" Alien said with an eye roll. "That's not even important. I called you for a reason, you know."   
  
_"Oh really?"_ Killer said with much sarcasm. _"What do you need then, your majesty? Over."_   
  
Alien sighed in exasperation. "We just picked up a pair of motorbabies, but BLI infested the Getaway Mile. Over."   
  
_"Shit, really?"_ Killer said. _"How'd they do that? What's there? Over."_   
  
"They put in a tollbooth," Alien informed. "D'you think you could get us out? Over."   
  
_"Probably,"_ Killer told her, with a hint of annoyance. _"You're just outside the entrance to the tunnel? Over."_   
  
"Yeah. Over."   
  
Killer sighed. _"I'll_ come _pick you up. I'm in Zone One,"_ he told her. _"That's the only reason I'm doing this,"_ he added, sounding annoyed.   
  
"Cool. Oh, and Killer?" Alien said with mock innocence.   
  
_"What is it now?"_ He seemed angry now.   
  
"You forgot to say 'over'. Over!" she laughed.   
  
_ "Goddamn-" _   
  
Alien cut off the call before he could finish cursing.   
  
Vendetta was doubled over laughing. "It's so fun to mess with him!"   
  
Alien noticed the siblings' confused looks at the situation, then turned to explain. "Killer's a tumbleweed. They're kinda like merchants; they run between the Zones and the city and sell stuff. That's how we get everything we need out there. Killer knows all kinds of secret entrances and exits." She paused, then added, "Oh, and he doesn't like me very much."   
  
"Then why'd you call him?" Sunset queried. "Aren't there other tumbleweeds?"   
  
"Yup," Alien replied with a grin. "I called just to piss him off."    
  
A few minutes later, they heard the roar of an engine turning the corner moments later. What they heard was a van that looked like it might have been owned by BLI once, but it was covered in spray paint, the most notable being a gold cartoon alien on one side and a silver X on the other side. The vehicle skidded to a halt in front of them.   
  
A guy hopped out of the van—Storm couldn't guess his age—and strode over to them. He wore a dark red velvet suit jacket, and his hair seemed to stand straight up on his head (though it wasn't as tall as his forehead). Instead of heading for Alien first, as everyone else they'd seen had, he strode over to Vendetta and gave him a bro hug.   
  
"Hey!" Alien said, holding her arms out. "What am I, chopped liver?"   
  
Killer turned to the Killjoy with a sigh. "No, you're just an annoying little shit who I wouldn't be doing a favor for if I wouldn't have the entire desert at my throat for not doing it." He glanced at the siblings, threw them a casual "Hey", then the tumbleweed strode back to the van and hopped in the driver's seat. Vendetta jogged after him and got in the passenger seat.   
  
Alien made a mocking face in his direction, then yelled to the still-confused siblings, "No one's even going to mention that he stole my car?!"


	7. 06.

After about a two-minute drive between abandoned buildings (peppered with sharp, speeding turns) the group arrived at a hole in the wall- literally. There was a spot behind a building that looked like someone had carved it out of Battery City's surrounding wall by hand. Thankfully, it was just big enough for their van to fit through it.   
  
Storm tried to look into the gateway to see what was outside of it, but he found that the glare of the sun was preventing him from doing that. Even if he could look at the gate, he wouldn't be able to see anything outside of it.   
  
Killer King put the van in park and jumped out. Alien did the same but told the others to stay.   
  
They conversed for a minute, then Alien hopped into the driver's seat and grinned back at the rest of the group. "Apparently, Killer was doing something else near the exit of the tunnel and when he heard my call he decided to steal the van to pick us up. He's an asshole," she added.   
  
Vendetta pulled a pair of dark-lens sunglasses out of his duffel and handed them to Storm. "You're gonna need these."   
  
He took them graciously and slid them over his eyes. Instantly, most of the things inside the car were made much darker, but he could actually see what was outside the tunnel.   
  
Alien pulled a ring with a key on it out of her pocket, threw it in the air, caught it, put it into the ignition, and started the car. Instantly the radio blared a metallic-sounding rock song at top volume. Storm covered his ears with his hands, and Sunset plugged hers with her fingers.   
  
"Oh, D's playing MARS's songs again!" Alien shouted to Vendetta over the noise. Then she seemed to remember that the new Killjoys were in the car, so she turned down the volume. "Sorry, I forgot to turn this off before we got out. We usually play something from this" she waved a CD case in the air, "to re-introduce the newbies, but we didn't intend to pick anyone up today. The song's called _Fallen_ , by the way."   
  
__ "Is this who you are,   
some sweet violent urge?   
a weak fallen man,   
with the promise of an end?"   
  
"This is the guys we just met," the Killjoy leader told them, to their surprise. "Jay and Shann. And Myth, of course." The constant sparkle in her eyes flickered for a moment. "They were called MARS."   
  
Vendetta took her hand. "Did you ever-"   
  
"No," she knew what he was asking. "They never told me."   
  
The silver-haired Killjoy had been about to say _Did you ever find out his real name,_ but it seemed better to him that he hadn't said it out loud. "Good."   
  
Alien put the van into drive, gave Killer the bird in her side mirror (which he reciprocated), and floored the gas pedal. The van shot through the gap in the wall and into the Zones.   
  
Storm was instantly hit with a wall of light, of a brightness he'd never experienced before. He shielded his eyes with his arm despite his sunglasses and the van's tinted windows. From what he could see, there was a straight path of sand in front of them that made a makeshift road, and all around them were sand dunes, with the occasional dead bush, cactus, or Joshua tree perched on top.   
  
_"Alright delta-dogs,"_ a voice on the radio said when the song ended. _"That was the song_ Fallen _by our very own Killjoy crew, MARS. Make sure to send your love to Modern Myth, who's runnin' with the Witch. Anyways, my eyes in the sky tell me there's some Drac traffic in east 2, so make sure to hit the red line if you're in proximity."_   
  
"Shit," Alien cursed, "Welp, we're gonna have to make a detour."   
  
_"Also, today is our stellar general and my good friend Atomic Alien's birthday!"_     
  
Vendetta whooped and gave his girlfriend's shoulder a gentle shove. "I told you he wouldn't forget!"   
  
"Happy birthday," Storm and Sunset said in unison, then looked at each other and laughed.   
  
"Thanks, guys," Alien turned back to say. "It isn't really a big deal, though."   
  
__ "Be sure to give her some sugar today, and make sure she's reelected when the time comes around again! And Allie-"   
  
"DESTROYA, D!" she shouted. "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS-" she cut herself off in frustration.   
  
_ "-if you're listening, we at the station are sending you our airwaves. Here's a present for you, straight from the studio of the Fabulous Four." _   
  
A synthesized beat began to shoot through the speakers, accompanied by some hollow drums. Then the same melody switched to grinding guitars.   
  
"Wait, what is this?" Alien's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "I don't know this, is it new?"   
  
"You'll see," Vendetta smirked, squeezing her hand.   
  
The general continued to look perplexed, but she did seem to enjoy the sound. Then the lyrics began, and her face lit up with ecstatic surprise. "Wait, is this- did you-"   
  
"It is," Vendetta grinned. "Happy birthday." He kissed her cheek.   
  
The siblings looked at each other. Sunset shrugged, then went back to moving along with the song.   
  
The song wasn't really Storm's type of music, but he did think it was good. The lyrics were a little messy when it came to the arrangement, but the meaning was understandable and empowering. It had been three years since he had heard any music at all, so he savored it.   
  
Alien continued to stare straight ahead of her, in awe at what her friends had created for her.   
  
Vendetta turned to the siblings to explain. "She wrote the lyrics," he told them. "She gave it to them for Christmas, and this past couple of months the Four and I have been turning it into an actual song for her. It's called Zero Percent."   
  
"Why'd you guys come to the city on her birthday?" the ginger Killjoy asked.   
  
"She wanted to avoid a party," he chuckled. "She hates being forced to talk to people, so we came to a place where no one knows her personally except Jared and Shannon, who we were planning to hang out with anyway. We got to spend most of the day alone together."   
  
Sunset awwed, and Storm couldn't help but smile. _They were so cute!_   
  
Once the song ended, the two veteran Killjoys launched into telling the recruits about music. Alien preferred a more metallic, harder sound, but Vendetta liked older, classic rock.   
  
Then an argument ensued between the two as to whether the Fabulous Four or the Suitehearts were better (not that Storm and Sunset knew who they were) and continued for a while, until they seemed to get tired and stopped.   
  
The van continued to speed through the desert, on a journey that its passengers knew they could never look back from.


	8. 07.

The two Killjoys and two new recruits continued to speed along down the sand, apparently in the direction of the main highway, called Route Guano.   
  
"So," Sunset questioned (it was probably her hundredth question today). "How does the Killjoys' government work? Like, you called yourself a leader, but the DJ called you a general, but then he said you were elected to the position..."   
  
"Well, it's kinda a combination of a confederation and an army," Alien cleared the air. "We are, at our core, an army, like the original freedom fighters. But once they developed a real community out here, they realized they needed a real government as well as military-level organization. So they started electing generals. But eventually, crews started to form, and decided the wanted to do their own thing, so it morphed into a confederacy. Basically, my role is the role of a president, as well as a general when I need to be, so we just call the role a General, even though I really don't do much unless the whole army is staging an attack or being attacked. We hold elections every year, but I've won every time since my initial election. Other than that, I don't really have a term length. As long as the people want me here, I'm here. It does come with downsides, though," she added, looking away from the backseat.   
  
"Like what?"   
  
"Well, I'm a celebrity. I get chased, asked for pictures and autographs, stuff like that. I don't like talking to people I don't know, but a general can't just ignore her army, so I do it anyways. Really, the only people who have it worse than I do are the Four." She chuckled.   
  
At this point, Storm was insanely curious about this Fabulous Four he was hearing about. He thought that The Beatles were called that originally, but he wasn't sure.   
  
The car was silent for the first time in a while. It was broken after a few minutes when Vendetta took the same CD case that his girlfriend had shown the recruits and opened it. "I take it you want to know who the Fab Four are, right?"   
  
The siblings nodded. Storm was generally a quiet person unless he was alone with his sister, but he still wanted some answers. He was grateful to Sunset for asking questions and remembering that he didn't want to.   
  
"Well, this record is theirs," the Killjoy told them. "You can look through this if you want. It has some pictures of them in it, just so you can get a visual." He handed Storm a paper booklet from inside the case. "The redhead sings, the afro plays lead guitar, the blond plays bass, and the small black haired one does rhythm guitar." He then tossed the disc into a slot in the dashboard and turned the volume up.   
  
Storm flipped through the booklet, and Sunset leaned over to look. The first person they saw was the person Vendetta had called "the redhead". Storm had been expecting someone with his sister's hair color, but in reality, his hair was bright red, like Sunset's new t-shirt. He looked closer at the guy's face and saw that he was very good-looking, by anyone's standards.   
  
"He's cute," Sunset voiced her opinion, the same thing that her brother was thinking. Storm blushed.   
  
Alien almost turned around completely to see who they were talking about, but Vendetta took hold of her chin and turned her head back towards the road. He turned around instead. "That's Party Poison," he told them. "He's a real heartthrob. Every girl has a giant crush on him."   
  
"He's not really my type though," the ginger shrugged. "What do you think Luc- I mean, Storm?"   
  
His head jerked up at the sound of his real name, or possibly his nickname. He knew that the Killjoys already knew who they really were, but he also knew that it was really dangerous for anyone to know what your real identity is.   
  
"W-well," he attempted to get back on topic. "He's attractive, I guess, but I wouldn't know."   
  
Sunset snorted. "Don't tell me you didn't have a megacrush on Han Solo when we were kids!"   
  
"Well, you guys did live in Bat City for a long time; that kind of thing isn't really allowed." Vendetta had a point.   
  
Storm was sure that his face was the color of a BLI-brand GMO tomato.   
  
Sunset laughed at him. "Okay, okay! We can move on." She took the booklet from him and flipped to the next page.   
  
Vendetta familiarized them with "the afro" Jet Star (who indeed had a large afro), "the blond" Kobra Kid (whose name was spelled with a K instead of a C), and "the short black haired one" Fun Ghoul (whose name was apparently derived from the Italian for "fuck you"), as well as a random Draculoid and Korse, who they were already very familiar with. When that was done, he pressed a button on the dashboard and a song played.   
  
A series of notes were picked out on a guitar. The two siblings hadn't heard music for so long that they knew to embrace every song with open arms. A refrain began then, a simple repetition of "na na na".   
  
In reality, it was closer to what Storm liked. He preferred a more classic sound, yet had a bit of a soft spot for punk, and this brought it all.   
  
The vocalist's voice was extremely powerful. He could probably spark a revolution with just a few songs if he tried, Storm thought.   
  
He realized then that the person singing is the same Killjoy that they had seen in the booklet, Party Poison. His heart gave a little pang. He was surprised and put his hand on his chest. _Am I having heart palpitations or something?_ he couldn't help but think.   
  
His sister must have noticed that something was wrong, so she tapped him on the shoulder. Her face was filled with concern. "Is something wrong, Luca?"   
  
"Don't-" he attempted to stop her from saying his name, or at least, his nickname, but it was too late. "You can't say that out here! No one can know who we are!" he whisper-yelled.   
  
"There's no one in here but people who already know who we are!" she lashed back. "It's not like I'm gonna go around telling people, 'hey guys, we're the children of the founder of the rebellion! Isn't that cool?'"   
  
Storm put his head in his hands when he realized she was right. "There's nothing wrong, Hails," he told her, using her real name in apology.   
  
"You had that look," she pushed. "You only get that when something's worrying you."   
  
"Okay fine," he gave in. "There was this pain in my chest a minute ago. Everything's fine now, but I just felt something. I don't know if something's wrong, it's never happened before."   
  
"I'm sure it's normal," Vendetta cut in. "Did something happen that you think could have triggered it?"   
  
Alien put her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, cutting him off. "Ven, don't go all medic on them. I'll talk to him about it later." She winked at Storm as if to say _I've got this._   
  
Vendetta sighed. "Al, being a medic is my job, I am a medic."   
  
"But I'm more familiar with human emotions," she argued back.   
  
"Oh, alright," he gave up.   
  
Their journey continued, the caravan speeding through the desert.


	9. 08.

When the van finally skidded to a stop, night was coming on. The setting sun painted the sky shades of orange and red, but there were no stars, to the new recruits' dismay. When they got out of the vehicle, the air was hot and arid, lacking any type of humidity. The ground held onto the day, still warm from the sun's harsh rays. In front of them stood a run down, graffiti-covered diner, a Trans-Am car parked in front of it.  
  
"Here we are, kids," Alien gestured to the diner in a large, sweeping motion. "Home sweet home. For now, anyway. We've got another spot where we usually hang out, but we spend a lot of our time here. This is the Four's hideout."   
  
The general walked up to the door and pressed a button. She looked up into a corner of the doorframe, and Storm realized there was a camera there.   
  
_"Who's- oh hey Alien,"_ a deep-sounding voice crackled from the speakers. _"It is you, right? The camera's a bit faulty."_   
  
"Yup, it's me," Alien told the voice. "Vendetta too. And a couple of guests," she added with a smirk.   
  
_"Okay, I'll let you in,"_ the voice said. _"Are you sure you can trust them?"_   
  
"One hundred percent."   
  
There was a buzzing noise, and the door popped open with a click.   
  
Alien sauntered in, holding the door open for her boyfriend and the recruits. Storm hesitated for a minute before stepping in, but he did after a moment.   
  
The inside of the room was filled with décor and knickknacks. It looked almost like a traditional diner in setup, with tables scattered around, but most of it looked as stereotypical as a rebel base could look. Alien removed her goggles, and her boyfriend did the same. Sunset followed suit, removing her sunglasses. Storm had no choice but to do it too. He pulled his bandanna off of his face and put his sunglasses in his pocket.   
  
A person stepped from the doorway in the back of the room. His hair was black and shoulder-length and he was a couple of inches shorter than Storm. _This must be Fun Ghoul_ , he realized.   
  
"Alien! Nice to see you!" he came over to her and gave her a salute, and then a bro hug. His voice matched that of the one they had heard outside.   
  
"How's my favorite midget?" Alien reciprocated the hug.   
  
"You're shorter than me!" he feigned offense.   
  
"I'm Irish," she made a point.   
  
"True." Ghoul grinned and gave a bro hug to Vendetta, then turned to the newcomers. "Who are the motorbabies?" he asked Alien, then his eyes widened as he looked them over. "Holy sh-"   
  
"Yes, they are who you think they are," Vendetta cut him off. "You can't tell anyone, though."   
  
"No shit, Sherlock!" Ghoul was still shocked. He turned back to the siblings with wide eyes. "Well then, what are your codenames?"   
  
"I'm Sunset Flash," Sunset told him. "Sunset for short. And he's Silent Storm, or just Storm," she added, gesturing to her brother.   
  
"Well okay," Ghoul mentally said screw it. "I'm Fun Ghoul, but knowing these two, you probably already know that."   
  
Alien winked.   
  
Ghoul shrugged and leaned back in the doorframe. "Hey, guys! Come and see this!" he yelled into the other room. He walked back over to the other four.   
  
Three more guys walked into the room. The first was blond and wore a red jacket, the second was tall and had a long afro. They had to be Kobra Kid and Jet Star. They both registered the siblings. Jet's jaw went slack, but Kobra's face didn't change at all.   
  
Then Party Poison arrived.   
  
His bright red hair was messy and went to his chin. He wore the same blue jacket as he had in the photo they had seen. He walked with so much confidence that you would assume that he was the Killjoys' leader, not Alien.   
  
The first word that came to Storm's mind was _beautiful._   
  
His heart started beating faster and did the panging thing again.   
  
Storm got scared. He put his hand on his chest to try and stifle the feeling, but he couldn't. He didn't say anything about it though because he didn't want that to be the first thing he said around these guys.   
  
Poison's eyes locked onto Storm when he saw him. He seemed to look the blond over and smirked at him when he reached his eyes. "Hello," he said calmly. "I'm Poison, nice to meet you." He held his hand out for Storm to shake. "And you are?"   
  
The only thing that was registering in Storm's mind was himself thinking _holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit._ "Lu- I-I mean, Storm," he stuttered, and shakily took Poison's hand. Poison's grip was firm, yet gentle.   
  
He chuckled at Storm's nervousness. "I can tell you're a bit anxious. Don't worry, you're with us now." He winked, and Storm felt his face heat up.   
  
"Hey Al!" the redhead grinned in Alien's direction. "Did you listen to D's broadcast earlier?"   
  
"Yes, yes I did," she smiled in response.   
  
"Did you get your birthday present?"   
  
"I did!" the general's calm façade dropped away. "I loved it! Thank you so much!" she enveloped Poison in another hug.   
  
"Happy sixteenth," Poison told her and reciprocated the hug.   
  
Alien traveled to the two other Killjoys then. Jet gave her a bear hug, which she almost drowned in due to their height difference. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you in ages!" he said happily.   
  
"We checked on the Lobby today," she told him. "Paid Cap and Hunter a visit."   
  
Jet's face saddened. "How are they doing?"   
  
"Great, actually!" Alien reported. "They're running a little shop near the edge."   
  
"Good for them." Jet brightened up again.   
  
Kobra attempted to give Alien a fist-bump, but she pulled him into a hug instead. He remained somewhat stiff, but gave her a smile and a "happy birthday". Storm could tell he didn't talk much.   
  
"So," Alien raised her voice to address all of the Killjoys. "We've got some newcomers, which you've probably already noticed. This is Sunset and Storm." She gestured to both of them. The ginger grinned and waved, then tapped Storm on the shoulder to break his Poison-centric trance. He blushed and gave a little wave.   
  
"Guys," the general addressed the recruits, "This is Ghoul the mechanic, Kobra the kung-fu enthusiast,"-Kobra playfully shoved her when she said that—"Jet the medic, and Poison the leader. Also known as the Fabulous Four."   
  
Ghoul stepped in front of her and bowed dramatically. "At your service," he winked.   
  
"Okay, now that everyone's been introduced, you can go back to your business. Now shoo!" Alien made a "shoo" motion with her hand, and the Four went back into the kitchen.   
  
"I'm gonna go grab our bags," Vendetta told his girlfriend and exited the building. "I'm gonna probably need some help."   
  
"I'll go," Sunset rapidly replied, and followed the medic out of the building.   
  
"Now Stormy," Alien said. "I need to talk to you about this problem you seem to be having. It happened again earlier, right?"   
  
He nodded anxiously.   
  
"What happened right before that?"   
  
"Um..." he tried to think. "Party Poison walked in," he said finally. "My heart just started racing, and it got worse when he was talking to me. It just kind of aches now."   
  
"Ah," Alien's face took on understanding. "I see what's going on here. You're suffering from a disease of the mind, not the heart," she said, but he could detect a hint of sarcasm.   
  
"W-what is it?"   
  
She jokingly put her hand on his shoulder. "You're suffering from a crush."   
  
_A crush? Isn't that like, when you were a kid and you thought you were-_ "What?"   
  
She smiled and poked him in the chest. "You, my friend, are starstruck!" she laughed. "You're head-over-heels in _love_ with Poison!"   
  
"But-" he couldn't believe it. "I can't- that's not-"   
  
She looked sympathetic. "I can understand you thinking that something was wrong. You've lived in the city for so long. But it's perfectly normal. Just ask Ven, he felt the same way about me when we met!"   
  
_Perfectly normal?_ "Really? This is normal?"   
  
"Definitely!" the general assured him. Then she lowered her voice and leaned in. "And to be honest, he was checking you out back there. Did you see the way he looked at you?" she smiled. "I think you've got a good chance with him."   
  
He was incredulous. "So, what do I do now?"   
  
"Well, we can't worry about that yet," she told him. "First, we've gotta make sure no one can recognize your identity, and get you a weapon. We're gonna run to my brother's place tomorrow and handle that. Then we can figure all of this out."   
  
"Thank you for this," Storm blurted.   
  
"No problem," she smiled. "I think we're gonna be good friends. Now let's hit the red line, I'm tired."   
  
Vendetta and Sunset returned with the group's bags, as well as two extra sleeping bags. The general and the medic led the recruits into the kitchen, which the Four had turned into a large bedroom. There were five sleeping bags already set up, one for each of the Fab Four and one for Alien and Vendetta to share. The partners helped Sunset and Storm set up, and they all turned in. They left one of the lights on, probably just in case something happened during the night, so they would be able to see.   
  
"Goodnight," Alien wished.   
  
"Sleep tight," Jet told his comrades.   
  
Ghoul joked, "Don't let the Draculoids bite!"   
  
The last thing that Storm saw before he sank into darkness was Poison's peaceful face.


	10. 09.

_"Look alive, sunshine."_  
  
Storm shifted in his sleeping bag as he woke. He became suddenly aware of the bright sunlight and the radio blasting, and he jolted upright. He questioned where he was for a moment, then the memories of the previous day flooded back to him.  
  
 _"We happened to find a calendar hidden in a junkyard somewhere, courtesy of our own Cherri Cola, and it turns out that today is March the Seventh of Two Thousand and Nineteen!"_  
  
The first thing he did was look at Poison.  
  
The Killjoy was turned on his side in his sleeping bag, the covers lumped up near his face, which couldn't be seen.  
  
 _"You got almost unbearable rad levels out beyond Zone Six today, but anywhere closer than that, y'all should be able to stay kickin'!"_  
  
Storm observed the rest of the room. Each of the Killjoys was still in their bag. Alien and Vendetta were curled up together, Ghoul's limbs were sprawled everywhere, Jet looked like he had slept like a rock, and Kobra was completely still as if he was playing dead. His sister's, however, was empty.  
 _  
"I know a lot of you crash queens are still asleep, so here's something to wake you up:_ The Carpal Tunnel of Love _by the Suitehearts."_  
  
He stood up, attempting not to wake any of the others, maneuvered his way through the maze of sleeping Killjoys, and exited the room.  
  
He found Sunset sitting in one of the booths reading a book.  
  
When she heard her brother come in, she looked up and smiled. "Hey, you're finally awake!" He sat down across from her, and she held up the book she was reading for him to see. "Have you heard of this book? I found it in that closet over there on top of a pile of depressing t-shirts. It's really good!"  
  
The cover said _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone._ Storm smiled. He remembered when he was eleven years old, and his parents got him that series for Christmas. He tried for ages to convince his parents to let his sister read it, but they never did, because there was "too much death".  
  
 _Look where that got us._  
  
"Did we make a mistake?" he blurted suddenly.  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked with a confused look.  
  
"Do you think it was right to come out here?" he clarified, feeling a pit open in his stomach. He took her hands in his. "Hails, we're never going to get to see Mom again. Or Dad," his voice quivered. "This changed everything. We're not ourselves anymore, we're these brand new people who never even existed until yesterday." And then, Lucas Castellan was there. He was once again the quiet kid in Battery City, hiding from his parentage, taking refuge only in his sister.  
  
Hailey looked into her brother's eyes. She squeezed his hands. "Luca. I know you hate change, and I know you're scared. But honestly, the change didn't happen when we left the city, it happened when the Scarecrows found us out. I'm not going to sugarcoat this. Mom was already gone, you know that. And Dad... his reputation was bound to catch up with him eventually. Don't give me that look," she noticed his pained expression. "I told you I wouldn't sugarcoat it. I'm not trying to say there was a good reason for what happened, but the moment's gone now. And Luca, look where we are! We're going to actually make a difference in this fight, and maybe get revenge while we're at it!" She gave him an empathetic smile. "We can't change the past, but we sure as hell can change the future."   
  
Lucas stood, pulled Hailey to her feet as well, and embraced her. She gladly reciprocated. They held on to each other, because they knew there was nothing else for them to cling to.  
  
"I love you," Lucas told his sister.  
  
"You dork," Hailey giggled. "I love you too. Now come on, let me tell you about this book!" She sat down again, and her brother followed. She picked up the book and began explaining the plot to him, and he listened, though he already practically knew it by heart.  
  
"Found ol' Harry Potter, I see," a warm voice said from the back of the room.  
  
And suddenly, he was Storm again.  
  
 _Oh no,_ he thought, recognizing the voice. He whipped his head around and saw Poison strolling toward them.  
  
His heart gave another small ache, but he knew not to react to it as he did the past few times. _It's perfectly normal,_ he told himself. _It's perfectly normal, it's perfectly normal..._  
  
"Something wrong?" Poison said, looking concerned. "You look like you saw a ghost or something."  
  
"N-no, it's fine," Storm attempted words. He was seriously doubting the normality of his condition, but he decided he could trust Alien, so he went with it.  
  
Poison grinned. "Good. Wouldn't want you guys to get hurt or anything on your first day in the Zones." He had said "you guys" but kept his eyes locked with Storm's the whole time. Storm noticed that the redhead's eyes were a hazel color, a mix of brown and green. He thought they were beautiful.  
  
What Storm didn't know was that Poison was thinking the same thing about him. He stared into the blond's eyes, and felt as if he was falling into the sky. He scolded himself internally for this thought. He knew this was a romantic thought, and he couldn't fall in love. Not now. He could die at any minute, and if he let someone fall in love with him, it would break their heart. He couldn't bear to do that to someone. And yet, this boy was enthralling to him. Storm seemed so vulnerable, so shy, yet Poison sensed a strength he could never understand inside of him.  
  
And it was wonderful.  
  
Storm's face began to heat up. _Is this really what love feels like? And why the hell did I have to fall for the one person everyone who likes boys had also fallen for?_  
  
"Everything alright out here?"  
  
Storm looked past Poison (which he was surprised he was able to do) and saw Alien and Vendetta standing by the door. The general leaned casually against her boyfriend, who had his arm around her.  
  
"It's milkshakes, Al," Poison grinned at her. "These two found the copy of Harry Potter we were looking for!"  
  
"I've been looking for that for ages!" Alien grinned. "Thanks guys!"  
  
"Being unobservant again, I see," Vendetta said, placing a kiss on her forehead.  
  
"Aren't you guys gonna stop by Tommy's?" Poison reminded the couple.   
  
"Oh yeah! I totally forgot!" Alien smacked her forehead. "We should go now."  
  
She proceeded to run out of the diner towards the van. The three others jogged to catch up, then got into their respective seats in the vehicle.  
  
"Who's Tommy?" Sunset asked.  
  
"Tommy Chow Mein," Alien told them.  
  
"He's a salesman," Vendetta continued. "Basically, if anyone out here needs anything, he's got it."  
  
"We're gonna make sure no one can recognize us," the ginger reminded herself.   
  
"You got it, kid," Alien affirmed. "You guys have pretty large targets on your backs right now."  
  
Storm was not necessarily looking forward to this prospect, but of course, he didn't have much choice.  
  
Despite Vendetta's protests, Alien popped in a CD that supposedly, "the motorbabies would like". It was by the Suitehearts (who Storm was also very curious about) and it was called _From Under the Cork Tree._ And like it they did. The general headbanged so much to the first song that her boyfriend made her pull over and let him drive.  
  
Once they got going again, the Killjoy veterans couldn't help but get a little jumped on adrenaline. Storm was sure that Vendetta was flooring the gas pedal at this point. Alien screamed every lyric to all of the songs that played.   
  
Storm had never seen anyone look that happy.  
  
Obviously, Sunset decided to get in on the action. She rolled her window down, leaned out, and stuck her hands in the air. She let out a whoop. Storm couldn't help but open his window too. The air flowed into the car, making his hair fly in all directions. He probably would have gotten annoyed and put it up, but right now he didn't care. He let pure joy run through his veins.  
  
He heard his sister gasp, and the moment broke.  
  
"Draculoids!"


	11. 10.

"Draculoids!" Sunset screamed.   
  
Storm quickly spun around to look out the back window, and sure enough, there were a group of six Draculoids on motorcycles following them. They were being led by a Scarecrow.   
  
"Shit!" Alien cursed. "Ven, open the roof up!"   
  
Vendetta pressed a button, and the roof of the van opened. Alien pulled her gun out of its holster, stood on her chair, and leaned out of the hole in the ceiling.   
  
"Do you need any help?" the medic shouted to his girlfriend.   
  
"I think I can take 'em!" she assured him, her gun emitting blasts rapid-fire.   
  
Storm looked at his sister. Her face was stricken with terror. He grabbed her hand, and she squeezed back.   
  
"They're firing back," Alien yelled, ducking inside the vehicle again.   
  
Storm looked out of the back window again and saw that the enemies were indeed defending themselves, though they had terrible aim. A blue laser from Alien's gun hit one of the bikes' tires and caused it to barrel into the Drac behind it. Both of them went down.   
  
"Good shot, babe!" Vendetta congratulated. He was still managing to keep the van on the road, thankfully.   
  
Alien continued to shoot the Dracs down until there was only the Scarecrow left. 'Crows were way higher up than Dracs and had a much better aim.   
  
Storm watched eagerly as the general reloaded her gun to take the enemy out. He still had adrenaline coursing through him, and faith in his friend.   
  
But the minute she leaned out of the van again, she let out a cry of pain and fell back into her seat.   
  
"Al!" Vendetta cried, and desperately tried to keep from swerving and tipping the van.   
  
"I'm okay," she panted, "but it got my shooting arm."   
  
We don't have any defenses, Storm realized, and instinct took over him.   
  
"Give me your gun," he said to the general.   
  
"What are you doing?" Sunset yelled in surprise. "Luca! Stop!"   
  
But he was already taking the purple gun and leaning out of the roof.   
  
The 'crow's mask stared back at him. It raised its arm and fired at him, but missed, barely grazing his shoulder.   
  
The rational part of his brain was saying, _what the hell are you doing? Get down!_ But he ignored it. He took the gun and slipped his finger onto the trigger. He raised the gun to the level of his eyes, closed one, and looked down the barrel. He squeezed the trigger.   
  
And hit the Scarecrow square in the chest.   
  
It fell off of its bike, and the bike tipped over and went down as well.   
  
Storm stood in tandem for a moment, processing what had just happened.   
  
_ I just killed a Scarecrow. I helped my friends, I'm in the fight now! _   
  
He let out a laugh. "Yes! I just did that! Whoo!"   
  
He crouched back down into the van. "Did you see that? First try!" He let his "annoying teenage boy" side reveal itself.   
  
"Dude," Alien said, clearly still in pain but grinning from ear to ear. "That was awesome!"   
  
Storm climbed back into his seat, still smiling.   
  
Sunset took his hand. "You're a real Killjoy now!" she told him, laughing.   
  
"Yeah, I guess I am!" He felt better than he had in years. He knew then that they had made the right choice.   
  
_ We're going to set the world right again. _   
  
🌩   
  
Soon, a building came into view in the distance. As they got closer, Storm could see that it was some sort of motel.   
  
_"This has been said so many times that I'm not sure if it matters..."_ Alien sang along to the song that was playing. "Oh look, there it is!" she pointed at the building.   
  
When they got close enough, Vendetta pressed the brake and the van skidded to a stop.   
  
"You have reached your destination," the silver-haired Killjoy said in a monotone voice, and his girlfriend punched him in the shoulder. "Hey, don't do that! You need to rest!" he scolded her.   
  
"I used my left arm, dumbass!" she snapped back, still smiling.   
  
Vendetta ignored this, pulled a bag out of the console, got out of the car, and walked over to Alien's side to tend to her injury.   
  
Sunset eagerly jumped out to see what was happening, and Storm followed.   
  
Her jacket sleeve had a large hole in it, revealing a bloody burn. The medic pulled Alien's jacket off of her right arm, causing her to gasp. Her face contorted. "Jeez man, could you at least warn me first?"   
  
"You're so stubborn," he told her. He pushed up the sleeve of her t-shirt to get better access to the burn. He grabbed a bottle from his bag, poured some blue gel from it into his hand, and applied it to her arm.   
  
The general hissed in pain. "You'd think I would get used to this," she complained.   
  
Vendetta pulled a roll of bandages out of his bag and began wrapping it around her arm. "There," he said when he finished. "You should be good."   
  
"Thanks, Ven." She pulled her jacket back on and aimed to give him a kiss on the cheek, but he purposefully turned his head so that her lips landed on his.   
  
They stayed there for a while, until Sunset said, "Get a room."   
  
Alien broke the kiss to laugh. "Alrighty then, kids," she said happily. "Let's do this!" She set off toward the motel, and the others followed.


	12. 11.

As the group moved towards the building, Storm noticed that they were being stared at by several Killjoys milling around. He wasn't sure if they were looking at him and Sunset or Alien and Vendetta.   
  
One group of three came up to them and stopped Alien.   
  
"Hey General Alien," the leader, a girl with pink hair, said.   
  
"Hey!" Alien smiled and greeted her. "What's up?"   
  
The girl looked starstruck. "My name's Sonic Stardust," she said. "These are Neon Revenge and Toxic Rocket." She gestured to her friends, then held a poster out to the general. "Could you maybe sign this for us?"   
  
"Sure," Alien agreed and pulled a Sharpie marker out of her pocket. She scribbled on the poster (Storm noticed that the marker was metallic gold). The message said:  _ to Stardust, Revenge, and Rocket: stay awesome, and keep running! -Al _   
  
She handed the poster back to Stardust, who squealed with delight. "Thank you!" she said, and the group ran back to where they were.   
  
Storm was shocked. This was just like how people treated celebrities years ago, as if they were gods.   
  
"Do you do this every day?" he whispered to Alien.   
  
"Yup," she told him. "It's all just acting, really. I pretend that I'm the huge hero everyone thinks I am and act accordingly. It's not so hard once you get used to it. They didn't recognize you, though," she added with a smirk. "That's a good thing."   
  
"I guess so." He realized that if anyone found out who he and his sister were, they would be treated the same way. He was horrified at the prospect, so he pushed the thought from his mind as they entered the building.   
  
The interior was basically a combination of Jared and Shannon's shop in the Lobby and the Fab Four's diner. It had an assortment of racks and shelves which were organized by item, but they were more randomly scattered, and filled with a strange variety of items. There were a couple of Killjoys perusing the shelves, but there were more outside than there were inside (which Storm didn't understand, due to the unbearable heat).   
  
"Tom!" Alien yelled. "Where the hell are you?" All of the others in the room looked at her, but then looked away as if this was normal. For all Storm knew, it probably was.   
  
"I'm at the desk, dumbass!" a masculine voice yelled back.   
  
"Follow me," she gestured, and the other Killjoys complied.   
  
They followed the general through a maze of racks until they reached the back of the room, where a man was sitting at a counter. He was definitely not dressed like a Killjoy, but wouldn't exactly blend in in the city either. He looked overdramatically annoyed when he saw Alien. "Well if it isn't the most annoying little sister in the Zones."   
  
"If it isn't my douchebag brother!" she sassed back.   
  
They stared each other down for a moment, then both burst out laughing. The man held his arms out, and the general hugged him. He jokingly pulled her goggles down over her eyes and she jumped back. She tried to fix it quickly but ended up having to take her goggles off completely to do so. When she finished, she punched the man in the arm. He just laughed.   
  
"If you haven't already figured it out," Alien sighed, "this is my brother, Tommy Chow Mein."   
  
Chow Mein smiled at the two newcomers. "'Sup?" he noticed Vendetta then and gave him a bro hug. After he did this, he held his hand out to Storm. "What's your name, kid?"   
  
He tried to act as if he wasn't anxious, like Alien had. "Storm. Silent Storm." He shook the salesman's hand firmly. Sunset did the same.   
  
Then, Chow Mein did a double take. He looked the two over many times, then turned to Alien and whispered in her ear. She nodded.   
  
"Well okay then," he said, still looking surprised. "I assume you're here to get these guys some- I don't want to say disguises, but-"   
  
"Yeah," the general cut him off.   
  
"Okay then," Chow Mein ran a hand over his close-cropped hair. "Alright, I'll give you a discount for whatever you get, but I'm still expecting carbons." He shook a finger at her like a parent scolding a four-year-old.   
  
Alien pulled a wallet out of her pocket and flipped through it. "How much?"   
  
They exchanged a few bills.   
  
"Awesomesauce," Chow Mein said. "Go crazy," he told his sister, then saluted her. She reciprocated with a two-finger salute, then led the group away from the counter.   
  
"Alright," she addressed the group. "Let's divide and conquer, like yesterday. I'll take Stormy, you take Sunny," she told Vendetta.   
  
"Cool," he said, and Sunset willingly followed him into the maze.   
  
Storm was a bit concerned. He'd watched his sister's behavior around the silver-haired Killjoy, and found that she had started to cling to him a bit. Whenever she got an offer to accompany him, she accepted almost too quickly. He wasn't sure why he was worried–Vendetta was very affectionate toward Alien—but he really couldn't help himself.   
  
"Right then," Alien said. "I say you cut the hair and dye it."   
  
"Absolutely not," Storm said, stroking his long hair protectively.    
  
"Why not?" the general shrugged. "It's what I did. Worked like a charm the first time I fought with Korse. He had no idea who I was."   
  
Storm shot her a stony look.   
  
"Still no, huh? Okay fine," she gave in. "Well, the hair dye needs to happen no matter what."   
  
He still didn't like the idea, but he knew he'd be in danger of being caught by BLI if he didn't. So he followed her to the shelves with the hair dye.   
  
The general scanned the shelves like a man (woman? person.) on a mission. "Your color scheme is grays and blues, so maybe a dark blue? A light blue would be easier, but the dark would be cool. At least you wouldn't have to bleach it," she added with a laugh. "That hurts like a bitch."   
  
If Storm had to pick one of the shades in front of him, he would definitely go with the icy light blue. "This one," he pointed it out, and picked it up.   
  
"Like the light better?" her eyes flitted from the bottle to his outfit, and she smiled. "Yeah, that actually works really well."   
  
"Do you know about that kind of thing?" he asked, curious. "You know, fashion and all that?"   
  
She laughed. "Hell no, but I know color better than anything. I remember that when it rains, which is kinda the aesthetic you're going for, the sky you can see is a bit lighter compared to the clouds around it."   
  
"Ah," he said in affirmative. He had never understood girls.   
  
"This place is one of the only places in the Zones that still has running water," she informed as she led Storm towards the back corner of the room. "That's why most people come out here for hair dye, so they can wash it out."   
  
The two of them reached a small hallway which had two doors on the left.    
  
"There's two bathrooms, so take your pick," Alien said.   
  
"Isn't there, you know, one for men and one for women?"   
  
"There used to be, but nobody really cares anymore. There's someone in this one anyway," she gestured to it, "so that one it is!"   
  
Inside the bathroom, there was indeed a shower. Next to it was a rack that held several towels and a set of those small hotel-brand soaps.   
  
"I wouldn't suggest wearing your normal clothes when we're doing this," Alien cautioned.    
  
Storm definitely wasn't comfortable with taking off his shirt, so he just took off his vest and grabbed one of the towels. He placed it over his shoulders. "This good?"   
  
"Good idea," she grinned. "Do you want me to help you?"   
  
Storm had no idea how to do this, so he nodded.   
  
She motioned for him to kneel down so she could get better access to his hair, and he did so. She immediately started pouring the blue dye onto his head, and began working. The two lapsed into silence.   
  
"Doing this is kinda weird for me," the general broke the quiet when she was about halfway done.   
  
"Really?" Storm got scared for a second. "Do you know what you're doing?"   
  
She shrugged. "I've got the gist of it. I did it to myself at first, it's just doing it on another person that's weird. I did it for Ven too, when we first got out here, but it's been a long time, obviously."   
  
When Alien was done applying the dye, Storm checked the bottle and read that it has to sit for thirty minutes.   
  
"It says thirty, right?" the purple-haired Killjoy asked.   
  
Storm said yes, and she pressed a few buttons on her watch. "I've got a timer set," she told him, "now all we have to do is wait." She plopped down on the floor, and he sat across from her.   
  
For some reason, the only thing that could come to Storm's mind was Sunset and Vendetta. She seemed so happy around him, and the way she looked at him, and how she was so eager to be with him...   
  
"So..." Alien broke the silence once again. "Hello."   
  
"Hi." They both looked away from each other and attempted not to be awkward.   
  
Then they caught each other's eyes.   
  
Soon, they struggled to breathe due to incessant bouts of laughter.   
  
They talked for the rest of the time, and learned many things about each other. Storm loved anything to do with computers and weapons, Alien loved anything to do with, well, aliens, and space in general. They told stories, exchanged opinions, et cetera.   
  
In that short thirty minutes, they became very good friends.


	13. 12.

As Storm looked at himself when everything was done, he realized how much he didn't look like the person he used to be. Come on, his hair was blue! He saw that there was a pack of hair elastics in the medicine cabinet above the sink, and he gladly took one. He messed with his hair for a bit, trying to figure out what to do with it.   
  
There was a knock on the door. "You done yet, Stormy?" Alien's voice said.   
  
"Yeah," he yelled back to her.   
  
She obliged, opening the door. When she saw him, a grin broke out on her face. "That looks so shiny, man!"   
  
"Thanks Alien," he smiled back.   
  
"Call me Al." The statement almost sounded like a demand, but Storm figured she meant well.    
  
"So can you help me?" he asked her. "I can't figure out what to do with my hair."   
  
"You should probably just leave it where it is. It looks pretty badass."   
  
"Okay," he said. He knew he'd never be recognized for who he was now. He didn't even recognize himself.   
  
"So now we just need to get you a ray gun," Alien told him.   
  
"I already have one," he informed her, taking the weapon out of his pocket.    
  
"Really? Can I see it?" She took the gun from him and looked it over. "Oh man... is this the newest model?"   
  
"Yeah," he said quietly.   
  
"That is so cool! The design is so much better!"   
  
"My dad always gets- got," he amended, his voice cracking, "the new ones."   
  
"I should have known," she commented, still focused on the gun. "He did invent them."   
  
Storm figured it was best not to mention that his father hadn't actually invented Analog weapons. It was a woman, but he couldn't remember her name. But as the head of the company, Edward had taken the credit.   
  
The general and the recruit stopped to get a holster for the weapon, then headed back towards the front of the building where they met up with Vendetta and...   
  
_...is that Sunset?_   
  
Her hair had been cut to her shoulders, and the ends were the same color as Poison's- _no Lucas, don't think about him,_ he scolded himself.    
  
"Wow," was all he could manage to say.   
  
"Kid, you look so cool!" Alien remarked, reviving a grin from Sunset in reply.   
  
Vendetta strode to his girlfriend and weaved their fingers together. "It was all her," he told Alien. "She just kinda did her own thing. You know I'm shit at that kind of thing. Anyways, let's head out." They walked out of the building, moving as one.   
  
Storm looked to his sister, searching her face for signs of upset, but found nothing.   
  
"Storm," his sister said when they were alone, testing the alias again. "You look badass!"   
  
"Not as badass as you," he complimented.    
  
"So, you know how Killjoys are in gangs, in a way, sometimes?" she asked her brother, who nodded. "Well, Al and Ven aren't in one... do you think we could make one with them?"   
  
All he heard was that she called them Al and Ven.   
  
He mentally kicked himself for thinking that. "Uh, well, I don't see why not," he said when he processed what his sister had said. "We'd have to ask them though." He really didn't have much faith in this idea; the two Killjoys were so close and so strong on their own. When they ran into Dracs earlier, it was as if the siblings weren't even there. Well, until Storm did his thing. He was still proud of himself.   
  
They jogged to catch up with the couple and hopped into the van.    
  
🌩   
  
The eight Killjoys were scattered around the diner doing various things.   
  
Kobra was outside practicing kung fu, while Vendetta was cleaning his gun. Alien sat in a booth, listening to music and reading. Ghoul was at a table, tinkering with a pile of wires and scraps of metal, probably attempting to make a grenade or something, while talking with Jet and Sunset.   
  
Storm vaguely heard their small talk, because he was watching Poison. The redhead was focused intently on his sketchbook, where he was drawing something. His eyes occasionally flicked up to look at something, then went back to drawing.    
  
Storm was coming to terms with the constant ache in his chest that came with having the Killjoy in his thoughts. He had never had a crush before, so it was hard to get used to, but he couldn't help it. He felt like a teenage girl (no offense to Sunset and Alien) obsessing over a boy.    
  
Poison looked up at Storm and noticed his longing glance. He smiled at the other boy, and gave him a flirtatious wink. Storm blushed, and Poison felt warmth spread through his chest. He knew he was falling for the new Killjoy, which he knew he shouldn't let himself do, but it just felt... right. He'd been known to mess with people's emotions like a complete asshole when he was younger, but after he got married, he couldn't bear to do that to anyone. After Lindsey, he had no idea how he could still love, but here he was, falling for this shy boy who was trying to find himself.   
  
Poison gestured for Storm to come and sit next to him. Storm couldn't help but look around, then point to himself, mouthing _who, me?_ Poison laughed and nodded a _yes, you._ Storm bashfully got up and moved to the seat next to Poison.   
  
"You look lonely," the redhead told him casually.   
  
"Well, I- I mean, I wasn't," he stuttered. He hated his brain for not working properly when he was in Poison's presence.    
  
"Well, you're here now, so even if you weren't, you still have to talk to me." Poison grinned.    
  
Storm hesitated, then looked to Poison's sketchbook and asked, "What are you drawing?"   
  
Poison passed the pad of paper to Storm. "I like to draw my friends a lot," he told him, who was in awe at the cartoonish version of Alien on the paper. "Al's usually a challenge 'cause she's always moving, so I took this opportunity."   
  
"Wow," was all the blue-haired boy could manage to say. Poison could sing, fight, and draw, as well as being really attractive. How could this happen to him?   
  
"Do you have any hobbies?" Poison asked, to make conversation.    
  
"Well, I haven't for a while, but I started learning the drums before we came to the city."   
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot you were in Bat City! Drums are pretty cool," Poison remarked. "We could never keep a drummer back in the day, so now we just get Dr. Benzedrine to play with us. Hey, maybe he could continue your training!"   
  
"Wait," Storm queried. "He's in the Suitehearts, right? Isn't he the singer?"   
  
"Yeah, but he's pretty good on the drums too." Poison chuckled. "It's kinda a funny story. When they first started, Benz was the drummer, but the rest of them heard him singing and told him he had to be at the front. A couple of years later, Killer King got really drunk and retold the whole story like this: 'he was like 'I've got a soul voice,' and they were like, 'how do you have a soul voice?' and he was like, 'watch this' and then he sang really weirdly, it was hilarious!" Poison laughed at the memory.   
  
Storm chuckled. _He's so cute!_   
  
The two continued to tell stories and talk about themselves, all the while falling even further for each other.


	14. 13.

It was morning in the Zones. As the sun rose, one could see the heat radiating from it, warming the landscape. Bands of orange and red mixed with the inky blackness which had become the sky, eventually forming a peaceful blue which was only interrupted by the fiery sun.   
  
The (yet unnamed) band of Killjoys were packing some things into their van, preparing for a journey. The Fab Four were outside as well, doing various things. The group were going on a two-hour journey, so they needed some supplies. This was the only information that Storm could catch, due to his half-asleep trancelike state.   
  
"You haven't met Dr. Death yet, have you?"    
  
Storm shook his head in an attempt to wake himself up, to respond to Alien's query. "No... don't think so." He yawned.   
  
"Well, you're going to today!" she told him. She lifted a bag full of Power Pup cans into the back of the van. "My second-in-command is there too, well maybe, he's at his own station every once in a while. He's called Cherri Cola. Oh, and the Girl!"   
  
"The Girl?" he asked, wondering what the general meant.   
  
"She's... it's kinda a long story," she admitted. "I'll tell you in the car." With that, she shut the back doors of the van and headed for the driver's seat.   
  
Storm shrugged, an was about to turn and take his place in the vehicle, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and found Poison's (beautiful) hazel eyes staring into his own blue ones.   
  
"So," the redhead said casually, "I heard you guys are going to be staying at Al and Ven's base for a bit."   
  
Storm's face contorted in confusion. "What do you mean? Why?"   
  
His eyes widened. "Oh, you didn't hear that?" He ran a hand through his brightly colored hair. "Oh well. They've got a lot more room there than there is here, and you wouldn't want to stay with us any longer, right?" He gave a soft laugh.   
  
"I would."   
  
Poison looked back at Storm. "Wait, you would what?"   
  
The younger man's face reddened. "I- I mean, I want to stay. With you, I mean."   
  
"Really?" Poison was incredulous. He felt as though a dream was coming true, his One True Love or whatever was choosing him... _NO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!_ his mind scolded him. _You can't do this, you know why!_ "Well, it's really cramped in here..." he struggled to get out, "you'd probably do better with these two anyway. And your sister seems to want to go..."    
  
"Well, I-" Storm stuttered, weighing the statement on his tongue. "I really like you. I'd really like to stay with you..."   
  
_Poison, do it. Don't get attached to this boy._ "I... I'm sorry. You can't stay. You should go." He looked into the other Killjoy's eyes, and saw the most concentrated amount of pain he had ever seen in them. He looked away, not wanting to face this.   
  
Every word that fell out of Poison's mouth felt like a stab to Storm's heart. _But, I thought he liked me too. I thought..._ He felt a drop fall from his eye, and sniffed. "O-okay," he choked out. "I'm just gonna g-go then."    
  
Poison's heart died in his chest as he watched the blue-haired boy run to his sister, who was waiting for him by their van. He fell into her arms, and Sunset shot a death glare at Poison.    
  
The redhead's shoulders sank, an he turned to sulk back to the diner.   
  
_That was the right thing to do,_ his rational mind tried to tell him. _You can't get attached to anyone again._   
  
He had almost reached the doors of the building, when his legs just stopped.   
  
"No..."   
  
He turned, and began running back to the other group's van...   
  
...only to find it already speeding away from him.   
  
"No, no! Wait!" He pushed himself to go even faster, chasing the mistake he made, and the love he left behind.   
  
He slowly ran out of energy, and fell to his knees in the sand. He put his face in his hands, and tried to hold back the waterfall that was forming in his eyes.    
  
"What have I done?" he whispered to himself, letting the tears fall at last.   
  
He stared into the sky, and the picture of Storm's pained eyes returned behind his eyelids.    
  
The wind picked up pieces of his hair and blew them away from his face.   
  
"What have I done?"


	15. 14.

"I- I just thought, maybe he... maybe he felt the same, you know?"   
  
Sunset comforted her brother, an arm over his shoulders. The pair sat on the edge of the back of the van, while they stopped at a Dead Pegasus for gas. When Storm had seen the logo of the station, his mind had instantly brought up the identical patch on Poison's jacket, and was plagued with another endless fit of sobs.   
  
"He seemed like an asshole anyway, Luca," Sunset consoled. "One of those guys who enjoys stomping on every heart they can catch the attention of."   
  
Storm sniffed. He felt humiliated for thinking that this guy, this celebrity, this hero, would actually like someone like him, a nobody.   
  
Well, there is the son-of-the-father-of-the-rebellion (brother of the rebellion?) thing, but that's beside the point!   
  
He wasn't that kid anymore.   
  
There was a loud yell from inside the store, which sounded like Alien's voice. Of course, the two recruits pulled their guns from their holsters and ran to see what was wrong.   
  
They were met with Alien shoving a candy bar into her mouth. "Who knew Milky Way bars still existed?" she tried to say, muffled by the food she was talking around.   
  
"What's wrong?!" A wild Vendetta burst from the back of the room. When he saw what was really going on, he sighed and said dejectedly, "Really?"   
  
The general took a moment to swallow the chocolate, then attempted to look innocent. "Well sorry, you know I can't control myself around chocolate, especially Milky Ways!"   
  
The group was silent for a moment, until the laughter caught up with them.   
  
Storm was extremely grateful for his friends in that moment. Forget Poison, he had three great people behind him!   
  
Alien grabbed the box of Milky Way bars (as well as a box of another candy called Mentos) and carried them out to the van.    
  
"Seriously? This thing is still filling up," Vendetta said with exasperation when he saw the numbers on the gas pump. "Oh, and did you bring that thingy you got from Ghoul?" he asked his girlfriend.   
  
"Yeah, I've just gotta find it," the purple-haired Killjoy told him, and began digging around in the glove compartment of the van.   
  
After a moment, she came back into view with two objects in hand. "Ven, look! I found your cam-corder!" she held a small silver video camera out to him along with a weird looking colorful item.   
  
The medic's eyes widened as he took the colorful thing from his girlfriend. He stared at the camera. "Oh no. There's probably a ton of embarrassing stuff on there!"    
  
"No no," Alien clarified. "I wouldn't do that to you. I had a better idea."   
  
"What is it?" Sunset asked.   
  
"Glad you asked, Sunny! Do you remember when musicians used to make videos to go with their songs?"   
  
"Yeah. Why?"   
  
"Well, I thought, hey! Maybe we could make a video for one of the Four's songs and give it to them as a surprise!"   
  
"No," Storm said under his breath.   
  
"What was that?" Alien asked him.   
  
"I don't want anything to do with the Four right now," he said quietly.   
  
"Yeah..." Alien came over to him and reached up to put a hand on his shoulder. "Actually, why don't we just talk about it now? We've got plenty of time on our hands."   
  
Storm shrugged. Alien gestured for him to follow her towards the diner, and he did.   
  
"Right then Stormy," the general began, "What exactly did Poison do again?"   
  
"Well, he—" Storm's voice cracked. "He sort of— well it sounds kind of stupid now but, he kind of made me believe that he felt the same about me that I felt for him. So, he sort of said something about us staying with you guys, which I'm sure you told me at some point but I was either staring at him or too tired to listen..." He continued to describe the scene of his heartbreak.   
  
Alien listened carefully, then sighed in dismay. "I've about had it with Poison these days! Ever since what happened with—oh, whoops, never mind that—he's always believed that he couldn't love anyone because they might die!" Her voice gradually rose in volume. "And to that I say, If we could all die at any point in time, then why waste the time we've got on suppressing feelings?" Her voice was almost at a yell at this point. "Love while you have the chance, goddamnit!" She paused to take a breath. "Sorry about that. He just needs a serious talking-to. Destroya, I sound like somebody's mom!" She laughed loudly.   
  
Storm couldn't help but laugh along. He admitted to himself that he needed to stop being so stiff all the time.   
  
"But anyways," Alien began again. "He never meant to hurt you so much. He's probably sitting in a booth, looking into the distance, and wallowing in guilt right now. Just let me talk some sense into him, and I'm sure he'll come around." She reached up and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Oh, and about the video... I still really like the idea, and I know you're still bitter about Poison, but would you be willing to make a deal with me?"   
  
"Depends on the conditions," he replied casually after a moment.   
  
"How about this: Ven and I do it all ourselves, and say that it was our idea only, and that you two had nothing to do with it. Shiny?" she held her hand out to him.   
  
Storm considered this. Along with all of the information he just got (plus a snippet that he probably shouldn't have heard), it sounded alright. "Shiny," he replied, testing the slang.    
  
He shook her hand, and she grinned. "I'm getting an urge to hug you right now. It's a bit weird, but can I?"   
  
"Sure," Storm held his arms out, and they shared a completely non-awkward embrace.   
  
"Cool!" the general broke the hug and ran back to the van, Storm following close behind.   
  
"Let's hit the road!" She said, and rapidly jumped into the vehicle.   
  
Vendetta headed for the gas pump, supposedly to pay for the gas. "Hey, new kids, I think this'll interest you."   
  
The siblings followed the medic, and watched him slip some wires into a slot of the machine.    
  
"This is what Ghoul likes to call a Vend-A-Hack," he told them. "You type in the amount it tells you to pay," he did this, "and it programs the machine to think that you paid it, without it costing you the carbons. Cool, huh?"   
  
"Yeah," Sunset said, grinning.    
  
The three got into their seats of the van. Alien got a thumbs up from each of them, then pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

"Al," Sunset began, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Sunny! What can I do for ya?" Alien grinned.

"Are we a gang?"

Alien paused, then smiled. "I think so," she said, then turned to Vendetta. "Are we a gang?"

"Don't see why not," Vendetta agreed. 

Alien turned around in her seat and looked at Storm. "What do you say, Stormy? Wanna be in a gang with us?"

Storm thought for a moment. After what happened this morning, he really didn't have anywhere else to go. But also, these were his best friends. They stayed with him the whole time while his life slowly turned on its head, and now he couldn't imagine being in the desert without them. He smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

"Awesome!" Alien shouted happily. 

"We need a name, you know," Vendetta commented. "Any ideas?"

"Ooh! I love naming things," Alien said. "Lemme think."

"Something cool, something that tells BLI not to mess with us," Storm added.

"The General's Gang? The General's Team?" Vendetta suggested. "The Aliens?"

"Dude, there's more of us than just me," Alien laughed. 

"How about-"

"I've got it!" Alien cut Sunset off. "The Ascenders! We always ascend above conflict, right? And we'll ascend higher than BLI or anyone that goes against us!"

"How are you so good at naming things?" Storm asked, incredulous. 

Alien shrugged. "Hell if I know; I'm just good with words."  
  
And with that, the Ascenders sped through the desert once again.


	16. 15.

"So, I was gonna tell you about the Girl, right?" Alien asked Storm.  
  
"Oh yeah," he responded.  
  
"Well, basically, her mom was one of the First Generation of Killjoys, so she fought in the Analog War. And as you know, all of the First Gen were either captured and Drac-ified or killed. But her mom was pregnant at the time, with her. Basically, her soul and all of her passion physically manifested in her in the form of a bomb that could destroy BLI forever."  
  
She paused to take in the puzzled looks on the siblings' faces. "Well, yeah, it's confusing. But that's the best I could do, so just roll with it and don't tell anyone I told you. Okay?" Another pause. "Cool!"  
  
The vehicle finally skidded to a stop in front of what looked like an old abandoned house, except that it was covered in spray paint graffiti.  
  
"'Kay, we have arrived!" Alien told her friends and hopped from the van.  
  
The rest of the Ascenders followed her as she ran into the building. The room they entered looked almost like a living room, with a couch and chairs and everything, except there were a ton of computers scattered around, and the decorations on the wall were, well, various.  
  
"Honey, I'm home!" she yelled into the doorway.  
  
"Is that the voice of the most beautiful extraterrestrial in the universe?" a voice said from the back of the room. A person skated in- _Wait, skated?_ They were wearing roller skates, polka-dotted leggings and a crop-top, as well as a helmet. They took their helmet off and kissed Alien on both of her cheeks. They did the same to Vendetta, which he didn't seem to like.  
  
"Well hello there newcomers," they said to Storm and Sunset. "I'm Show Pony, pleasure to meet you. I prefer 'they', if you'd like to tell others how amazing I am. And you are?"  
  
Sunset was about to open her mouth, but Storm beat her to it. "I'm Silent Storm, and this is my sister, Sunset Flash."  
  
Pony smirked, took Sunset's hand, and kissed it. "Hello, beautiful."  
  
She smiled at them and pulled her hand away. "I'm not typically into older people."  
  
"You pain me," they said jokingly, putting their hand on their chest. "Anywho, I assume you're here to meet the boss?"  
  
"Sure are," Alien told them, and they skated back to the doorway they came from. "Doc, the kids are here!" they turned back to the Killjoys and guided them into the other room.  
  
The radio station was filled with technology of all kinds, except for an old-fashioned record player and a shelf filled with what looked like hundreds of records. There was an old American flag on the wall, but it had a spider on it. It was the same one that was on Jet Star's jacket and the Four's car.  
  
A man in a wheelchair sat at a desk of sorts. He turned when the Killjoys entered and smiled. "Allie! Good to see you!"  
  
Alien rolled her eyes. "D, don't call me that! If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times..."  
  
"I'm just messin' with ya, kid!" the doctor playfully shoved her.  
  
"Oh, never mind! Anyway D," Alien began, "I had the best idea I've had in a while today, but we're gonna need your help."  
  
"And what is this idea, exactly?" he lowered his sunglasses to look at her closely.  
  
"I thought maybe we could stick some cameras onto the van and make a music video for Na Na Na!"  
  
Dr. Death hummed. "That is a bright idea. Pony, where's the stash of cameras we used to use?" the DJ called to his assistant, who was chatting with Vendetta in the other room.  
  
Pony poked their head through the doorway, their shaggy brown hair falling into their face. "You rad cats lookin' for 'em? They're in the closet over there," they pointed.  
  
Alien immediately started in the direction of Pony's gesture and Storm hurried to follow. They found the closet and began to dig around among the miscellaneous items for cameras.  
  
"Here they are!" the general pulled a box from the back of the closet, filled with cameras of all shapes and sizes. "Hey Ponyboy, there any chance of some duct tape being in here?"  
  
"Right in front of you, Madame General!" they called back to her. Storm was pretty sure that wasn't how the title worked, but he paid no mind.  
  
"It's right there," Storm spotted the roll of tape and pointed it out to her. "Vendetta was right, you are unobservant!" he chuckled.  
  
"Oh, shut up!" she jokingly punched him in the arm. "Says you, Mr. I-was-too-tired-to-listen!"  
  
"E.T.!" a small voice yelled, and suddenly, Alien's legs were being trapped in the arms of a small girl with bushy hair.  
  
"Hey there kiddo!" the general grinned at her. "Man, it's been forever! How've things been?"  
  
 _This must be the Girl, but E.T.?_ Storm wondered. _Must be the whole_ alien _thing._  
  
"Pretty good," the girl told Alien. "D let me play a song on the radio! I took out the circle and put it on the spinny thing and it played!"  
  
"Let me guess... Green Day?"  
  
"Don't wanna be an American Idiot!" the girl sang loudly. "Sing with me, E.T.!"  
  
Storm smiled at her. The last time he'd seen a child, he figured, was when his sister was that age. He smiled at the memory of the two of them getting Lightsabers for Christmas and battling with them.  
  
"Not right now, kiddo. Hey, this is our new friend Storm!" she gestured to him, and he gave a little wave.  
  
"Hi Storm!" the little girl smiled at him. "I don't have a name, isn't that cool?"  
  
"Oh yeah," he nodded enthusiastically for her sake.  
  
"We're gonna go back to the Four's place," the purple-haired Killjoy told the child. "Do you wanna come with us?"  
  
"Oh yeah!" the girl jumped in excitement. "Shiny!"  
  
"Hey Miss E.T.," Dr. Death's voice called from the other room. "Got any song requests before you hit the red line?"  
  
Alien thought for a moment. "Caroline," she said simply.  
  
A few minutes later, the whole group was taping cameras to random parts of their vehicle. The Girl wasn't tall enough to reach the spots where they needed to be placed, so she sat in the back of the van.  
  
The radio was on, playing the song Alien had requested. It was about a girl named Caroline who disappeared from another person's life completely, and the other person was wondering why. It was a soft, sad song, but Storm could see why the general liked it.  
  
"E.T., can I have a Milky Way?" the Girl pleaded.  
  
Alien sighed. "I mean... if you must." She was reluctant to share her chocolate but gave in when she saw the child's puppy eyes. She returned to taping a camera to the back door, then fished a roll of Mentos out of its box. She looked delighted when she popped the candy into her mouth.  
  
"Why does she call you E.T.?" Storm asked his friend.  
  
"Well, the Four and I were showing her some good pre-war movies..."  
  
 _"So, that guy's called E.T.," Alien told her, pointing to the creature on the screen.  
  
The Girl laughed. "Why's he called that?"  
  
"E.T. stands for extra-terrestrial, which means a thing that doesn't come from Earth."  
  
"Like an alien? Like you?"  
  
She laughed. "Yeah, like me."  
  
"I'm gonna call you E.T. then!" she grinned at her.  
_  
She smiled at the memory.  
  
Storm fixed a camera to the side mirror of the passenger door. "We're just going to go to the diner, then go straight to your base, right?" he asked.  
  
" _Our_ base," the general corrected. "And yeah, I think so. I don't know how we're gonna get the footage for a video though unless we run into Dracs on the way or something."  
  
As if on cue, Alien's radio started to emit static.  
  
"Hey, that might be a transmission, turn it up," Vendetta requested, and Alien complied.  
  
"S.O.S..." the radio spat. "...Sandman...east 6...Suitehearts...Scarecrows, lots..."  
  
"The Suitehearts must be in trouble!" Sunset exclaimed. "We have to help them!"  
  
"Get in, now!" the general ordered her team. "Let's move!"  
  
 _Okay then_ , Storm thought. _Time to be a hero_. He got into his seat as fast as he could, and barely closed the door before Alien had punched the gas pedal.

 


	17. 16.

"Man, Sandy's restless!" Alien cursed. "We've had to pull him out of situations way too many times!"   
  
"Are you sure you can't go any faster?" Sunset yelled over the wind blowing through the open windows.   
  
"I'm at top speed, kid!" the general yelled back.    
  
The Girl stood on the console of the van and leaned out of the sunroof. She whooped in delight.   
  
"Sandman sent coordinates, right?" Vendetta asked his girlfriend loudly.   
  
"Yeah, I've got them on GPS!" She told him, pointing at a screen she was holding.   
  
How they had that technology, Storm wasn't sure, but he knew that Ghoul had probably reprogrammed it not to send their location to BLI.   
  
"You okay, Luca?" Sunset turned to her brother, who had been silent.   
  
"You should try not to call me that," he commented, "it might slip out in front of other Killjoys."   
  
"Fine then, _Storm_ ," she said, a bit annoyed. "Are you okay?"   
  
"As I'll ever be, I think," he said somberly. "I'm just worried about you."   
  
"Why?" she asked. "I'm completely fine. I know you think it's so dangerous out here, but it's also the best thing we've ever done, as well as the first place we've ever felt like we belonged!"   
  
"We belong together, Hails," he told her, taking her hands in his. "We never needed anyone else."   
  
"We wanted it, though. Don't tell me you didn't think of running away years before the thought even came to my mind!"   
  
This is confusing, he said to himself. "I guess I don't really know how I feel."   
  
"That's alright," she smiled at him. "You've got all the time in the world to figure it out. And most importantly, you have us!" she gestured to the other two Killjoys and herself. "We'll stand behind you no matter what. I promise."   
  
"Thank you," Storm said, wrapping his arms around his sister.   
  
The vehicle suddenly screeched to a stop, throwing everyone forward.   
  
"Alright, everybody out! Let's move!" Alien ordered, going into full-on military mode. She pulled her goggles over her eyes and jumped out of the vehicle.   
  
"What do I do?" the Girl squealed.   
  
"You're just gonna hide in here, okay sweetie?" Vendetta soothed her. "Everything's gonna be okay."   
  
Storm pulled his bandanna over his face, preparing for the fight. Sunset pulled her sunglasses on as well, and Vendetta put his mask on.   
  
"You ready for this?" the ginger said to her brother.   
  
"Ready as I'll ever be," he told her, opening the van's door.   
  
The gang followed Alien out of the van, and they all ran after her towards a spot where a huge fight was happening. There were four people who were obviously Killjoys fighting against what had to be a dozen or more Scarecrows. One of them was laying on the ground, out of the way, and another seemed to be tending him.   
  
"Hey!" one of the Killjoys, who was wearing a large black coat, yelled. Storm figured it was probably Mr. Sandman, the leader of the Suitehearts.   
  
"'Sup?" Alien yelled, then instantly pulled out her gun and started taking down the 'Crows.   
  
Storm started shooting as well, and though he wasn't as good of a shot as Alien was, he still got a couple of good hits. He felt something warm press to his back and realized that it was his sister, fighting back-to-back with him. Vendetta took out a knife instead of a gun, but still made quick work of any of the enemies that came at him. The seven Killjoys were definitely succeeding.   
  
Suddenly, an engine revved in the distance, causing the remaining Scarecrows to look up. That was obviously a mistake on their part because one of the unfamiliar Killjoys ran over and shot each one of them with- _is that a crossbow? No, an Analog crossbow._ Storm hadn't seen one of those in years!   
  
Once the enemy was vanquished, Storm finally looked up to see where the noise had come from, and—   
  
_ Oh no.    
  
_ _It had to be the Four, didn't it?!_   
  
The first one out of the Trans Am happened to be Jet Star, and being a medic, he rushed over to see if everyone was okay. The other medic (Storm assumed), who was wearing a blindingly yellow leather jacket, called him over, and he ran to help. The second was Kobra, who ran faster than anyone Storm had ever seen and embraced Mr. Sandman.   
  
Storm turned away from the Fabulous Four's car before he could see Poison because he had no desire to. And yet, a small voice in the back of his mind was telling him to run to the redhead and cling to him, as he had wanted to do for a while. But he dismissed it, giving Alien a high five. "You were awesome! That was badass!" he praised his friend as she pulled her goggles back off of her eyes.   
  
"No, you were awesome back there! That was so cool!" The general rushed around, congratulating her friends and finally proceeding to kiss Vendetta, who happily obliged.   
  
Storm stared at them and tried to ignore the gaping hole in his heart. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and immediately recognized Poison's gentle touch. He turned and found he was right.   
  
"Storm, I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you..." he apologized so many times, but Storm was only looking into the older boy's eyes. He had his mask on, but Storm could still see that Poison was looking at him in a way that he never thought anyone would; with affection. A lot of it, in fact. It was similar to how his sister looked at him, but it was different.   
  
He had been wrong, more wrong than he ever had been before.   
  
"Stop talking," Storm cut Poison off suddenly, letting instinct take over. He pulled his bandanna from his face, stood on his toes to reach Poison's height, and brought himself closer.   
  
"Wait, what are you—"   
  
Poison finally stopped talking when he found Storm's lips pressed against his.   
  
Storm's rational brain was screaming at him, as was his anxiety, and his grudge that he had been holding since this morning. But of course, his heart didn't listen. He also was vaguely aware of Alien screaming "I KNEW IT" in the background, but he paid no mind. He only thought of the man in front of him who, despite what he had thought all day, was kissing him back.   
  
He thought back to when he had first arrived, at the beginning of the month. He had felt for sure that something was wrong with him, but now he knew that he was indeed wrong about that too. What he felt right now was the most fantastic and beautiful thing he had ever experienced.   


Storm pulled his love closer to him as he finally realized, this is what freedom is. Freedom to live, freedom to love. He finally felt like himself for the first time in seven years.   
  
And Poison, well, he was just glad he had let go of his fear and accepted the blue-haired boy into his heart. He knew then that he was able to love, and embraced it fully, holding Storm tightly to his chest, not wanting to let him go.   
  
The two fell into each other, not wanting to think of anything else.   
  
And in the background, there was chaos. Alien audibly said "Screw it," jumped into Vendetta's arms, and shoved their lips together. Kobra (who had an arm around Mr. Sandman) pulled out a ten-carbon bill and gave it to Ghoul. Jet Star and Dr. Benzedrine continued to tend to Donnie the Catcher, who had taken a shot to the arm. Horseshoe Crab was still running around yelling about his victory, waving his Analog crossbow in the air and accidentally firing a few blasts into the sky. Sunset was watching her brother, ecstatic at how happy he was.   
  
The couple pulled apart and stared into each other's eyes. Storm realized that Poison still had his mask on, so he reached up to pull it off of his face. He was greeted with what he thought was the most beautiful sight in the universe.   
  
They continued to stay like that for what seemed like hours until a voice that sounded particularly like Vendetta yelled, "Hey, get a room!"   
  
All of the Killjoys laughed. Poison yelled back, "Speak for yourself!" and the twelve of them laughed even harder.   
  
Storm took the opportunity to go and ask Horseshoe Crab about his crossbow. As he headed that direction, Alien walked to Poison, smiling. "So, you finally developed some sense, then!"   
  
"I'd like to think so," he replied.   
  
"Well, you certainly helped him," the general gestured to Storm, who was eagerly discussing Analog technology with Horseshoe.   
  
"You orchestrated this, didn't you?" he asked after a moment. "You totally could have taken those 'Crows out by yourselves. You just called us so I'd make up with him!"   
  
Alien just smiled and winked.   
  
Poison grinned. "I really like him," he said.   
  
"You think I haven't figured that out by now?" Alien laughed.   
  
The friends observed the rest of the group happily. Sandman and Kobra were chatting, their fingers laced together. Ghoul and Jet were laughing at recent events. Benzedrine was helping Donnie stand, being his support. Sunset and Vendetta were sitting down, also discussing recent events.   
  
And just for a moment, everything seemed perfect.


	18. 17.

The three gangs departed after a while. Storm had discussed drum lessons with Benzedrine (due to Donnie's injury, he couldn't play, so Poison had thought it easier to just ask Benzedrine), as well as having shared his extensive knowledge of Analog tech with Horseshoe. He was still buzzing with adrenaline after the... the Event. He hadn't been as happy as he was in that moment since the Wars began in 2012. His hand was clasped in Poison's for the majority of the time until they had to get into their separate cars. Poison helped the Girl climb into the car, then turned to his... friend? Boyfriend? Partner? Storm had no idea at this point.   
  
"So we're gonna spend the night at Al and Ven's place tonight," Poison told him.   
  
"Really?" Storm grinned.   
  
"Al said we need some 'quality time'," he made air quotes as he said this.   
  
Storm laughed. "Of course she did! That's our Al!"   
  
Poison gave the younger boy a small kiss on the cheek. "See ya on the other side," he said with a wink.   
  
Storm's face turned as red as Poison's hair. "I—um, you too," he stuttered.   
  
"Stormy!" Alien's voice called him.   
  
Poison got into his car, and Storm ran over to the van. He got into his usual spot next to Sunset and grinned at her.   
  
The van leaped forward suddenly, and the two of them were thrown backward, as they tried to catch up with the Trans Am.   
  
They found it barreling down the highway, music blaring from its speakers, specifically the Fab Four's own song, Na Na Na. Storm remembered that his own group were filming for the music video, and laughed at the coincidence. The Girl leaned out of the window and stuck her hands out, whooping in delight. Poison was driving and screaming every lyric, his voice echoing with the recording. Of course, all Storm could think about was how beautiful his voice was.   
  
_ "For mall security,   
To every enemy,   
We're on your property,    
Standing in V formation!" _   
  
The rest of the group dutifully sang along with the _na na na_ s. Alien rolled down her window and waved, Ghoul waved back. He leaned forward to notify Poison, and the redhead turned and saluted before continuing to sing.   
  
__ "Let's blow an artery,   
Eat plastic surgery,   
Keep your apology,   
Give us more detonation!"   
  
Storm loved how happy he looked. He couldn't help but wonder if it was because of him; before when Poison looked happy it always felt forced, in a way, but now it seemed completely genuine.   
  
And Storm? Well, he'd never been happier.   
  
🌩   
  
They arrived at their destination as the sun was sinking below the horizon.    
  
Alien said "Here's our stop!" but the only significant thing Storm could see was a large rock.   
  
They got out and walked over to it. It was about Alien's height (a bit more than five feet, Storm guessed) and looked exactly the same as hundreds of others they'd seen.   
  
Poison slid over to Storm and took his hand. Storm knew it was him without having to look, and his face broke into a grin. They laced their fingers together.   
  
Vendetta walked to Alien's side and bent down to the bottom of the rock. Then they slid their fingers underneath it and lifted it up. It turned out that it was hollow, and underneath it was a metal trapdoor.   
  
"Whoa, that's so cool!" Sunset remarked.   
  
The general knelt down and entered a code onto the trapdoor's keypad. It beeped, and the trapdoor opened. Underneath it was a dark manhole with a ladder leading down. Alien pressed a button, and a light turned on at the bottom. She climbed into the hole and motioned for the others to follow.   
  
Each of the Fabulous Four went first, then Sunset. Storm hesitated a bit, then stepped onto the ladder.   
  
The tunnel was a lot longer than he thought it would be. It was filled with yellow light from the outdated lightbulbs next to the ladder. However, it was also a lot tighter, and he realized that he was severely claustrophobic. After a few minutes, Alien's voice echoed up to them. "I'm at the bottom. Y'all okay?"   
  
There was a chorus of yeses.   
  
When Storm finally reached the bottom, Poison was waiting for him. The redhead wrapped his arms around him. He smiled into his blue leather jacket.   
  
Poison chuckled and broke the hug. "Come on, I'll show you around." He took Storm's hand again and guided him into the next room.   
  
What Storm found was a large room that looked like a nuclear bomb shelter, which he assumed it probably was. There were a ton of weapons scattered around on tables, as well as various tech items and computers. There were a couple of doors at the edges of the room and a pair of double-doors at the end of it.   
  
"This is what Al likes to call the Nest," Poison told him.   
  
"They have this all to themselves?" Storm was incredulous.   
  
"Well, being the leader comes with a lot of privileges. They need all of the tech to keep track of the army and any attacks that might happen."   
  
The three other members of the Four were milling around. Ghoul was messing with an unfinished contraption, attempting to fix it. Kobra was looking at a shelf that held Alien's CD collection and Vendetta's record collection. Jet had found a guitar and was tuning it.   
  
Poison led Storm to each of the rooms. "So here's the med bay for anyone that's injured... This is Al's office, she's probably in there, never go in unless she says you can... That one at the back leads to the mess hall, there's a ton of food in there, but it's mostly Power Pup... Here's the studio, D's got one too, we recorded our record in here, oh hi Jet... And this leads to the living quarters!" There was a staircase going downwards. Poison gestured for Storm to go first, so he did.   
  
At the bottom of the stairs there was another large room, but instead of tables everywhere, there were beds. Well, more like comfortable-looking cots. Most of them were singles, but there were some double-beds (double-cots?) for couples. There were two doors on the opposite side, which were probably bathrooms.   
  
"We'll probably sleep in one of the corners, near Al and Ven's bed," Poison said. "So, that's pretty much it, do you like it?"   
  
"It's huge," was all Storm could say. "What do they use all this for?"   
  
"Well, sometimes they offer refuge for Killjoys who don't have gangs, or who they just picked up. Most stay here to ride out withdrawal from the meds. But now that you guys are a gang, you'll probably just live here."

"So you mean... we're gonna join them? Stay here forever?"   
  
"Unless you don't want to."   
  
Storm wanted to. He loved hanging out with Alien, and even though he and Vendetta weren't that close, he was still a nice guy and was good in a pinch.   
  
The only problem was that he didn't know when he'd see Poison again.   
  
"Will you visit?" he asked, taking the redhead's hand.   
  
"'Course I will! You're my boyfriend, right?"   
  
__ Boyfriend?   
  
Boyfriend...   
  
"Yeah, I guess so!" Storm grinned. "But, uh, how does that work?"   
  
Poison smiled. "Of course... well, the main principle is that we'll only love each other and no one else. But there's lots of PDA involved too," he winked.   
  
"Sounds alright," Storm grinned.

 


	19. 18.

Kobra Kid was happy.   
  
He never wanted to admit it; he'd always been the one who watched over the others and kept them safe, a side effect being that he never showed much emotion. He was awkward when he made physical contact with anyone and was a bit uptight when the others were getting drunk.   
  
But when he was with Mr. Sandman, he finally felt free.   
  
Sure, he could never be closer to anyone than he was to Poison, but that was different. They were brothers, and that's a completely different thing.   
  
But he and Sandman just felt right together.   
  
One night, the Suitehearts came over to the Nest to hang out, so of course, Kobra was ecstatic. He had run to Sandman and embraced him, grateful for any chance he got to do this. They had spent the whole night in each other's arms just talking and catching up on all the time they hadn't spent together.   
  
They were in love, and it was beautiful.   
  
🌩   
  
General Atomic Alien was the happiest she'd ever been.   
  
She and Violent Vendetta had been playing music together a lot. She had easily taken control of the electric guitar years ago, and was now one of the best players in the Zones, Jet Star excepted. Vendetta played the bass dutifully, always keeping up with her solos, which she put all of her efforts into making insane.   
  
One thing that she had always known but swore she'd take to her grave was that before she'd joined the Killjoys, she'd never felt that she fit in anywhere. She was different in a way that people generally didn't like. Sure, she'd had a few friends, but they were rare, and there were periods when she felt utterly alone.   
  
Then she met Vendetta.   
  
She had escaped BLI on her own, but it was him who had shown her how to live. He had supported her as she met new friends, trained to fight, and made her way up to where she was.   
  
She was certain that she'd found the one for her. She was wild and reckless, and couldn't care less about what happened to her. But Vendetta kept her from going too far. He was calm and collected, and it was because of him that she was still alive. They complimented each other beautifully.   
  
The more time Alien spent with Vendetta, the further she fell for him.   
  
🌩   
  
Dr. Benzedrine wasn't as happy as the others. Sure, he enjoyed spending time with his friends, but the life of a medic is woe because it was his responsibility to worry about the health of his friends.   
  
Any medic that didn't know Horseshoe Crab personally would have suspected that his hyper behavior had a medical cause, but in reality, that was just how he was. Other medics didn't know that, but they couldn't help but worry. Even Jet Star, as skilled as he was, sometimes questioned the other man's behavior.   
  
Benzedrine sang to calm himself; usually songs that Sandman wrote but hadn't figured out a melody for yet. He experimented with them, strumming his guitar along with the lyrics. He really only did this when he could get some time in the studio alone; he hated singing in front of people when the piece wasn't finished.   
  
He also enjoyed talking with Jet. They traded ideas for guitar melodies, taught each other songs, and just rocked out a lot. They worked well together as medics too; whenever they needed to communicate under stress, one always understood the other perfectly. Vendetta was there too, but he was a bit more reserved.   
  
Benzedrine and Jet also seemed to be the only straight ones in their groups, which they regularly laughed about.   
  
🌩   
  
Now, Horseshoe Crab and Donnie the Catcher were a different story. They always stuck together, but there were moments when one was staring at the other, then the other would look back and notice the first staring and the first would quickly look back, and both would blush. This was a typical trademark of two people who were in love, but oblivious to the fact.   
  
When Donnie was injured, Horseshoe would regularly watch over him, making sure he was alright. Donnie looked tough, but Horseshoe knew that he was actually the sweetest guy he'd ever met. When Horseshoe was hyper and crazy, Donnie stayed calm, but still had fun.   
  
But each was sure that the other only desired to be friends. They were both wrong.   
  
🌩   
  
The Girl was happier than she'd ever been, it seemed.   
  
What was awesome about being with the Killjoys was that she got to be a kid. She knew that the kids in the city didn't get to have fun all the time, but she did. She was lucky.   
  
Alien had introduced her to a ton of old movies, but this time, she pulled out her old _Doctor Who_ box sets. The Girl thought that a man flying around in a box being chased by salt shakers was hilarious, which it kind of was when you looked at it that way.   
  
She pretended not to notice, but the Killjoys saved her the best food. She was very glad about this because she'd seen the faces they made when they ate dog food.    
  
🌩     
  
Sunset Flash and Fun Ghoul observed all of this and laughed.   
  
Sunset was so happy that Storm had found his place among the Killjoys. She had almost begun to doubt their decision to run away, but then she had noticed the way he looked at Poison, and vice versa. She had known then that it had been the right thing to do.   
  
Ghoul would never admit this, but he was a bit jealous of Storm. Years ago, before the war, he'd had a huge teenage hormone-induced crush on Poison (well, he wasn't called Poison then). He had long ago discovered that Poison didn't feel the same, but he still felt slightly spiteful about their relationship.    
  
He still smiled though, because he realized that Poison was truly happy, and that's all that Ghoul really wanted. He would still kick Storm's ass if he hurt Poison.   
  
🌩   
  
Storm had spent most of the week in the Nest's recording studio, practicing playing drums. Dr. Benzedrine and Donnie the Catcher had given him several lessons while they were there, and he enjoyed them profusely. He was good at it too. The Fabulous Four were very happy about this because they had a good drummer on hand to play with them.   
  
He had also been spending a lot of time with Poison. The two were practically attached at the hip now that they were, you know, together. They talked to each other a lot, sharing more private things about themselves.   
  
He really felt connected to the redhead, in a way that was hard to define. It was good though, better than anything he'd felt in a long time.   
  
🌩   
  
One night, as the Killjoys laid in bed, Poison felt compelled to do something.   
  
There is only one situation where any Killjoy could reveal their real name to anyone else, and that was if they trusted someone completely. Of course, Poison had known who Storm really was since they met, him being one of the most famous people in the rebellion. He almost thought it unfair that his boyfriend's identity had never been a secret to him, and that he was still completely clueless about his. So, he did what he thought was right.   
  
"Gerard Way," he whispered.   
  
"What?" Storm said sleepily from next to him.   
  
"My name. It's Gerard Way."   
  
"Really?" Storm seemed slightly more awake. "Why are you telling me now?"   
  
"I thought it was kinda unfair that I knew your name but you didn't know mine," he told him, "what with you being my boyfriend and all."   
  
"Oh yeah, you do know mine." He considered this. "But still, why now? I mean, you could have told me tomorrow, or on your birthday next week, or something. Why so soon?"   
  
"Well... how do I explain this, um..." The redhead prepared to explain as best he could. "Since I became a Killjoy, well, more like since the war, I haven't felt like myself. When I started using the name Party Poison, I thought, 'oh, I'm still Gerard, I'm just using a different name.' But after a while, I really started to become Party Poison; acting like him, sounding like him, hell, when I dyed my hair it contributed to being him. My brother and I could be ourselves around each other, but even then, we still were drifting further away from ourselves. But then... there's you. You're really easy to talk to, and laugh with, and I really think that since I met you, I've started to find myself again."   
  
Lucas pulled Gerard closer to him. "I feel the same way," he confessed. "I feel like, for me, it's that Ha- Sunset is pulling away from me. She's been fully integrated, in a way, but without her, I don't really have anything to anchor to."   
  
Gerard smiled. "You do now." He pressed his lips to the younger boy's, and they stayed there for what felt like forever.


	20. 19.

"You want me to what?"   
  
"Okay, we should have asked you before booking the show, but we really need a drummer!"   
  
The Fabulous Four, apparently, had booked a show at the Pit, the biggest spot for concerts in the Zones, weeks ago. They planned to ask Storm if he would drum for them at the time, but it had slipped their minds until the day before.   
  
"Really kid, we need you!" Jet begged him.   
  
"Just ask Donnie or something!" Storm was extremely adamant. He got nervous whenever he met one Killjoy; he couldn't imagine playing in front of thousands of them!   
  
"They're playing another show the same night!" Ghoul was practically screaming.   
  
"We could call Hunter," Kobra said quietly.   
  
"See? Call Hunter!" Storm said anxiously. "Or Shannon, whatever he's called. He's a drummer, right?"   
  
"I wouldn't think he'd be ready to come back to the desert yet," Poison told his brother.   
  
"Goddamnit, kid!" Ghoul screamed. "We need you!"   
  
"SHUT UP!"   
  
Alien's shout echoed through the room.   
  
She jogged over. "I'm trying to contact Dr. D for patrol schedules, but I can't do that when you're all screaming at each other!"   
  
Storm's face heated up. Ghoul looked pissed that someone had interrupted him, Jet gave her a pleading look, Poison looked like a sad puppy (which was absolutely adorable to Storm), and Kobra just looked relieved that someone had stopped the noise.   
  
"Ven!" Alien called. "I need you!"   
  
Vendetta popped out of the door of the mess hall holding a can of beans and a spork. "What's goin' on?"   
  
"They're arguing, you're the referee, have at it."   
  
He sighed and walked over. He shoveled some beans into his mouth and said, "Alright, explain," slightly muffled.   
  
"So we're playing a show tomorrow at the Pit," Jet began. "We were gonna call Donnie to play drums for us but the Suitehearts are playing another show the same night."   
  
"A-and," Storm stuttered, "they asked me to but I um... I can't."   
  
"Kid has stage fright," Ghoul said, shooting an annoyed look at Storm.   
  
"Right then," the silver-haired boy said. "First off. When did you guys book this show?"   
  
"Last month," Poison said sheepishly.   
  
"And when did you intend to ask Storm about it?"   
  
"Well-" Poison continued to look sheepish. "We were going to, but... things happened, you know?"   
  
Vendetta sighed. "Well, you at least shouldn't have screamed at him. That made him even more anxious. I mean, just look at him!" He gestured to Storm, whose face had once again turned the shade of Poison's hair.   
  
"And you," the medic turned to the drummer. "Why don't you want to play?"   
  
"I- I just," Storm continued to stutter. "There's gonna be so many people there..." he shivered.   
  
"So you don't want to be seen?"   
  
"Not really."   
  
"You know, no one knows about you yet. And if you're on a stage with the Four, no one will notice you at all. They'll just be paying attention to these guys."   
  
That's true, Storm considered.   
  
"And they do need a drummer, and you're the best chance they've got. So what do you say?"   
  
He thought for a moment. But that was interrupted when a hand slid into his. He looked up and saw Poison smiling at him. _You can do it_ , he seemed to be saying.   
  
"Well... okay," he said after a moment. "Sure."   
  
🌩   
  
"So you're staying here?" Storm asked Sunset.   
  
"Well yeah. Somebody needs to hold down the fort and watch the Girl," she told him. "And that's kinda a two-Killjoy job, right? Especially since this place is so big."   
  
_She'll be okay,_ he told himself. _She'll be with Vendetta._   
  
He was slightly worried about them being alone together, leftover from his original suspicions. But he had faith that his sister wouldn't do anything rash.   
  
"Alright," he told her, "I'm just worried."   
  
"I know," she replied, grinning. "I'm fine. Now go be a rockstar!"   
  
He laughed and gave his sister a hug.   
  
🌩   
  
_This was a mistake,_ Storm thought, panicked as he paced the dressing room. He turned to Jet, who was tuning his guitar, and said, "I can't do this."   
  
"What? Why not?" Jet looked concerned. "Did something happen?"   
  
"I can't go out there in front of all those people! What if I mess up?"   
  
"Kid, you've memorized the whole record! You won't mess up." Jet assured him.   
  
Storm attempted to calm himself by taking deep breaths. "Where's Poison?"   
  
"Probably backstage," Jet told him. "Yeah, go see him. I'm not that good at mental things, I just do the physical stuff. Sorry kid."   
  
He was already out the door.   
  
Another thing that added to his anxiety was that he wasn't wearing his vest. None of them were wearing their jackets due to the heat of the stage lights, but Storm had become attached to his. He only wore his shirt, the bright text reading "STORM CHASER".   
  
He found Poison backstage, singing "Bulletproof Heart". He saw his boyfriend and smiled. "Hey, what's up?" he pulled Storm into his arms.   
  
"I can't do this," the drummer said into Poison's shoulder. However, the redhead's presence was calming him as he spoke.   
  
"And why is that?" Poison replied, sliding a hand into the other boy's hair.   
  
"What if I mess up?" Storm said, looking up at his boyfriend. "If I mess up, you guys will all mess up! The whole thing rides on me-"   
  
Poison cut him off with his lips.   
  
It wasn't passionate or lustful or anything like that, but it was loving. Just reassurance that they were there for each other, and that was all Storm needed.   
  
"Listen," Poison said, pulling back a bit. "I'm right here. I'll be right in front of you the whole time. And you won't mess up, I've heard you play all of these songs perfectly."   
  
"Yeah," he said and pressed his face to his boyfriend's neck again.   
  
"We've still got a little bit," the redhead told Storm. "Our opening act should be starting soon."   
  
"Opening act? I didn't know that was happening. Who is it?"   
  
"A kid called Mad Gear. Apparently, he's always alone on stage, but he hallucinates a guy called Missile Kid playing the drums with him. His lyrics are really depressing, but the music's catchy. There's also a ukulele involved sometimes."   
  
Suddenly, a loud noise that sounded like microphone feedback poured from the stage monitor speakers. Then there were a few loud booms, and a muffled, "Is this thing on? Oh, it is! Shiny!" The crowd cheered in response.   
  
"Come on, let's watch!" Poison took Storm's hand and pulled him to the wing of the stage.   
  
Storm looked out and saw an ocean of faces cheering and yelling for the band to come on. His heart began to race, but he focused on Poison's fingers, which were entwined with his.   
  
On the other side of the stage, Alien was making her way to the center. The crowd had gone crazy at the sight of her. She slid the microphone into its place on a mic stand. She pulled her goggles from her forehead, ran a hand through her hair, and shoved them back into their place. "Just a PSA," she said into the microphone, "I am really high on Mentos right now, so don't hold anything I say against me!" the Killjoys laughed. "Anyways, you probably know who I am; if you don't, number one: where the hell have you been for the past two years? And number two: I'm known as General Atomic Alien out here, and if you call me ma'am, I will personally shoot your ass." The people laughed again. "No, really! Someone called me that and I shot him in the ass!" They laughed harder. "I'm dating him now, but whatever," she added in a low voice, then quickly moved on. "ANYWAYS! I'm not here to do standup! Without further ado, here is Mad Gear and Missile Kid!"   
  
She bowed and sauntered off of the stage, doing the Vulcan symbol from Star Trek with her hand.   
  
A strange booming noise started fading in. As it got louder, a boy who looked about fifteen walked onstage holding a ukulele. He wore what looked like normal clothes except for a flowery kimono thing, a red beanie, and black paint on his hands and neck.   
  
He started strumming the ukulele, which was an eerie sound when combined with the background noise. "Hi," he said into the mic, in a high pitched voice. "My name's Mad Gear, and back there's my best friend Missile Kid." he gestured back to the stage's drumset, which was unoccupied. The crowd seemed to ignore this, instead focusing on Mad Gear's voice. A bit later, drums did indeed play, but they were either synthesized or pre-recorded.   
  
"You're the judge, oh no,   
Set me free..."   
  
He played a few more songs. The Killjoys seemed to love the music, though it significantly lacked in guitars for Storm's taste. There was one where he sang about his friends being heathens, and he was holding a bass, but Storm couldn't hear it or be sure that he was even playing it.   
  
"Hello!" Alien's voice pulled his attention to behind him.   
  
"Hey!" He greeted her, trying not to act nervous.   
  
"So I've got a plan. I'm gonna walk onstage to announce the Four, obviously. But when I do, you come on at the same time, so everyone's looking at me, not you. Got it?"   
  
"That actually sounds awesome. Thanks, Al!"   
  
Alien wrapped her arms around Storm, and he accepted the gesture.   
  
Mad Gear ended his last song and walked off silently.   
  
Then one of the stagehand people pushed Storm onto the stage.   
  
He tried to resist looking out to the crowd, but he couldn't help himself. What he saw was an ocean of color, thousands of people, each one looking at him. He began to feel dizzy, but he remembered what his boyfriend had said, and pressed on toward the drumset. He sat down, but then the feeling of thousands of eyes on him faded when Alien walked on.    
  
"Oh look, I'm back! Hi!" she waved at the crowd. "Alright, I'm gonna get straight to the point here. You came to see the Fabulous Four! So here they are! Enjoy!" She gave the Killjoys a two-finger salute and ran off the stage.   
  
Then Jet Star walked on. He began to play the intro to Na Na Na, and the rest of the Four came on. Poison winked at Storm, and he barely remembered to start the song with his kickdrum.   
  
The routine was in his muscle memory now, so he was free to watch Poison. The redhead sauntered around the stage, looking like he was having the time of his life. He looked back periodically to check on the drummer but Storm seemed to be doing okay, so he carried on. He started to crank up the sexuality during the second verse, making Storm miss a beat. He panicked for a moment, trying to find his place again, but no one seemed to notice. He continued, relieved that no one was paying attention.   
  
Then the bridge began, and Storm slowed things down to half-pace.   
  
"And right here, right now, all the way in Battery City," Poison said to the crowd.   
  
They recited with him: "The little children, raise their open, filthy palms, like tiny daggers up to heaven."   
  
Storm couldn't help but join in. "And all the juviehalls, and the Ritalin rats, ask angels made from neon and fucking garbage scream out, what will save us?"   
  
He picked up the beat again. "And the sky opened up..."   
  
Jet started doing his crazy guitar bit as Poison started to sing again.   
  
_ "Everybody wants to change the world, everybody wants to change the world, but no one, no one wants to die!" _   
  
"Wanna try, wanna try wanna try!" Storm yelled along while his adrenaline levels rose. During Jet's solo, Storm picked up the beat a bit, making his part unique. Poison looked back at him and saw that he was happy, and his mood improved a lot more than it already had.   
  
Storm realized that he was wrong to be scared.   
  
They did _Death Before Disco, The Only Hope For Me Is You,_ and _Planetary_ next, which all went by pretty quickly.   
  
After that, Alien came onstage to sing _Save Yourself_ with them. She said it was her favorite, though she'd already said that about three other songs on the record.   
  
They ended with _Vampire Money_ , which they had written to make fun of the Twilight movies. When the song ended, the crowd was louder than it had been during the whole show.   
  
Storm looked up from his drums to see Poison gesturing for him to come to the front of the stage. He hesitated before obliging. The redhead took his boyfriend's hand. Storm started to shake as he let his eyes scan the crowd.   
  
The five Killjoys bowed simultaneously.   
  
Poison whispered to Storm, "Do you want me to introduce you?"   
  
"No," he said in response, but he knew the hundreds of people in front of him were probably wondering who he was, especially since he was holding hands with Party Poison. "I'll do it myself."   
  
He walked to Poison's mic stand. He noticed that the microphone was decorated to look like his ray gun. He was about to speak into the mic, but it fed back. The crowd of Killjoys went silent.   
  
"Uh, hi?" he said, his voice quavering. "I don't know if you're wondering who I am or... but anyway, um, I'm Silent Storm," he ran a hand through his hair anxiously. "And I just, uh, played drums for these guys, so yeah."   
  
Poison took the mic from the stand. "He's cool, trust me."   
  
The Killjoys laughed.   
  
And with that, as Poison put the mic back onto the stand, Storm grabbed his face and pressed their lips together.   
  
Again, he felt as if he could barely hear the crowd going insane, or the rest of the Four clapping, or anything else for that matter.   
  
All he knew was Poison.   
  
The two of them seemed to transcend life. There was no Killjoys, no BLI, no Zones or Bat City, no wars.   
  
Just Lucas and Gerard, as one.   
  
Lucas parted from the kiss only to say this:   
  
"I love you."   
  
He really wasn't thinking when he said it, but he meant it. He meant it with every fiber of his being.   
  
He also wasn't expecting to hear the same words in Gerard's voice.   
  
"I love you too."

 


	21. 20.

Alien was  _ living _ .

She considered herself the original shipper of Storm and Poison, and they had  _ literally _ kissed in front of like  _ three thousand people. _ And it was Storm that insinuated it!

She was so proud. Not just of Storm for conquering his fear of being in front of people, but of Poison for accepting his true romantic nature.

Poison had always been a flaming bisexual. He knew this, all of the Four knew this, Alien and Vendetta knew this, and pretty much anyone who'd seen him on stage knew this. But for a couple of years before the Analog War ended, he had actually been married. Her name was Lindsey. He had fallen for her so hard and so fast, that right after they graduated high school, they eloped. But then, during the wars, Lindsey had decided that she had to become a Killjoy, so she could fight for her rights and those of her family. Poison (well, he wasn't called that then) had begged her not to, but she did anyway. A year later, she died in battle.

This was the cause of Poison's "inability" to fall in love. He swore to himself and everyone around him that he would never love anyone again. After the war ended, he and the rest of the Four decided to go to Battery City and fight in her honor.

And Alien was so happy that he had found someone, because as far as she knew, Lindsey would have wanted him to.

Storm had insisted on staying behind with the Four for the afterparty. Alien really wasn't a fan of parties, so she decided to go back to the Nest alone. They would be fine to drive home because Jet didn't drink.

So she was alone in her van with her thoughts.

After a while of driving down the dark Route Guano in silence, she decided to play some music. She dug around in the console (which was full of CDs) until she found an old MARS record, entitled  _ This Is War _ . It was the last one they had released, during the Analog War.

She sang along with every word. To Shannon's namesake, Night of the Hunter, a lullaby-like tune called 100 Suns, her personal favorite, a ballad called Hurricane, and the one that they said was their favorite to play live, Closer To the Edge.

Back when Alien had first come into the Zones, in the autumn of 2016, the three guys had been her first friends out there, other than Ven, of course. Capricorn had been her best friend. He had taught her guitar, trained her to fight, and spent the most time with her. She had thought that his brother Night Hunter was the coolest person ever at the time. She looked up to him a lot because he was the best at shooting and battle strategy. But Modern Myth, he was... she couldn't even think of the words. He was the sweetest, funniest, best guy she had ever met to this day. He was always there to lift the other guys up when they were sad or help them when they were injured. She hadn't gotten very close to him, and she regretted that.

She missed them.

🌩

Alien arrived at the Nest's landmark rock. She easily entered the code to the trapdoor under the rock, and swiftly climbed down the ladder.

She hopped off of the last rung to find the large main room dark.

"Ven?" she called. "I'm here!"

No reply.

She set off to find him.

She checked her office, nothing. The med bay, also nothing. She figured she'd find him in the mess hall, but he wasn't there either.  _ Maybe he's practicing in the studio... _

She opened the door to the recording studio, expecting to find Vendetta plucking away at his bass.

Instead, she found the worst thing she had ever seen in her life.

Sunset and Vendetta, her Vendetta... were  _ kissing _ .

They heard her come in, and looked up at her like deer in headlights.

She stood for a moment, shocked, then she did the one thing she could think to do.

She ran.

At top speed, she plowed through the Nest, weaving her way through the tables.

A voice called her distantly, but she ignored it. She climbed the ladder as fast as she could bear, jumped out onto the sand, and locked the trapdoor behind her. She climbed back into the van and pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

She was still in shock. She knew she couldn't let her emotions get to her until she found a place to stop. After about five minutes, she found a group of sand dunes and drove the van behind them, out of sight of Route Guano. She turned off the engine of the car, her world going dark.

Then, hesitantly, she went over the images in her head.

Ven. Her Ven.

He sat on a stool, bass in hand.

Next to him, sat Sunset Flash, the young ginger girl that she had risked her life to rescue.

Their lips connecting.

Alien finally let the tears stream from her eyes.

_ He- he couldn't, he wouldn't... would he? _

She sat in the dark, overcome with sadness and disbelief, but also with anger and hatred.

And for the first time in years, she felt truly alone.

She turned the car back on and drove back onto the highway. Tears continued to blur her vision.

She sped up, toward the only place she could think to go.

Suddenly, a light flashed in her rear-view. She looked up and was greeted with a pair of headlights, and the sound of an engine that certainly did not belong to a Killjoy.

Her heart sped.

_ No, no no no NO!! _

🌩

". . . - - - . . ."

". . . - - - . . ."

". . . - - - . . ."

"Hey Poison, I think you're getting a message."

"Oh yeah, I am."

"Who's it from?"

"Oh  _ shit... _ "

"What's wrong?"

"It's an SOS from Vendetta."

"Answer it then!"

"Alright, Storm, alright! Hey man, it's Poison. What's going on?"

_ "Al's missing." _

"Missing? What do you mean-"

_ "I mean missing, Storm. She's gone and I don't know where she is. I'll explain later." _

"Jet!"

"What is it, Poison?"

"Can you get us to the Nest?"

"'Course. What's-"

"We'll explain later. Come on!"

"I hope she's okay."

"Me too, Storm... me too."


	22. 21.

Poison paced the main room of the Nest. "Okay. You can explain now."

Vendetta looked upset. There was so much guilt on his face. "Well..."

"It's my fault." Sunset jumped in. "We had a few drinks. We were talking and I asked him to teach me guitar, so we practiced for a bit and then... I didn't think, I just..."

"You just what?" Storm asked, pressing for an answer.

She lowered her voice and hung her head. "I- I kissed him."

Storm did a double take. "You  _what_?"

"I kissed back! Don't blame Sunset!" Vendetta jumped back in. "Al walked in right after it happened." He hung his head. "It was just an instinct, but... I don't blame her for running. She doesn't deserve me."

"Sunset?" Storm's voice cracked. "Can I talk to you, for a minute?"

The two of them retreated to the corner of the room.

"Luca, I-"

"How could you, Hailey?" he blew up. "I should have known. I saw the way you looked at him, I should have told you not to!" he ran a hand through his hair.

"Don't blame yourself," she said. "It was all my fault. I shouldn't have gotten drunk, I couldn't control myself. Just don't blame Ven, okay?"

He sighed. "You know I can't stay mad for very long. But I'm not sure about Alien. I don't know how long she keeps grudges, if she does."

"Oh no..." Sunset's eyes widened. "I could have ruined their relationship forever! What have I done?"

She pushed herself into her brother's arms.

On the other side of the room, Poison was fuming. "You just straight up kissed  _back_?"

"I'm sorry, okay? If I had known what I was doing, I wouldn't have done it! And to be honest... I was thinking about Al. I imagined kissing her. I think that's why I kissed back."

"I want to punch you in the face right now."

"Go ahead."

So Poison put his hand into a fist and punched Vendetta in the face.

"OW! I didn't know you were serious!" Vendetta held his hand to his jaw.

"Well, you should have. That's for breaking my friend's heart. Now come on, we have to find her." Poison turned to Jet. "Go get the other guys."

🌩

"Okay. Where would she go?" Ghoul slurred. He was clearly very concerned, but he was also slammed drunk.

"Let's check the diner," Kobra suggested.

"No, no one's there," Vendetta replied. "She'd go somewhere to be comforted."

"What about Tommy?" Jet suggested. "She could have gone to him."

"Tommy Chow Mein is about as comforting as a Draculoid," Poison interjected.

"Is anyone going to maybe suggest that she might have been taken by BLI?" Ghoul said.

"No!" Vendetta shouted. "Only if we can't find her anywhere else."

"Come on then!" Storm pushed. "Where would she go, person who knows her better than all of us?"

Vendetta thought for a moment, then looked up. "The Lobby."

🌩

Storm, Sunset, and the Four piled into the Trans Am and set off for the Slums. Vendetta stayed behind to look after the Girl, who was still asleep, and because of the fact that Alien would probably not like to see him at that moment.

After a few long hours of tense driving, the group arrived at the same hole in the wall that they had exited the city from. They drove through the hole and parked the van inside. Poison told the rest of the group to stay in the car while he and Storm got out and made their way to the main road of the Slums. Storm took Poison's hand as they walked, and the redhead squeezed back.

As they walked, the locals seemed to make a path for them, staring as they passed by. Come on, Party  _freaking_  Poison was there! Oh, and that guy who kissed him, whatever.

Soon, they arrived at Shannon and Jared's shop. It appeared to be closed.

Storm opened the door (which was surprisingly not locked) and peeked in. The store itself was dark, but there was a light coming from a hallway in the back. "Hello?" he called.

"Store's closed, go away," another voice shouted back at him.

"My name's Storm," he continued. "I was here a couple of months ago with General Alien-"

The owner of the voice stood up from behind one of the racks where the counter was. It was Shannon. "What do you want, kid?"

"We were wondering if Alien was here," he clarified.

"Why would she be here?"

 _Oh..._ "Shit," Storm cursed under his breath. "Well-"

Poison opened the door a bit further and walked in. "Hey Hunter, sorry to interrupt, but she's missing. Vendetta kissed another girl and she ran away, but if she's not here there's only one place she could be. Now are you going to help or not?"

Shannon's eyes widened. "Poison? Wait—oh no..." he turned toward a hallway behind the counter. "Jay! Come out here!"

Jared's head soon popped out from behind a wall. "Hey Shann, what's... Poison? What are you-"

"Alien was captured by BLI."


	23. 22.

The Nest was dark. Each room was completely silent; there was not a single movement. The Girl slept peacefully on her personal cot, unaware of the madness that was transpiring.

Violent Vendetta, however, couldn't sleep.

He was going over memories in his head, weighing them. They mainly were interactions between him and Alien. 

_ "How do you do this again?"  _

_ "Well, with most others, I'd have to bleach it first, which hurts like hell sometimes. But you're blond, so it should be okay." _

_ "Have you ever done this before, Al?" _

_ "Not to someone else, no." _

_ "You're lucky I trust you. I don't want to look like an old man!" _

_ "Trust me, it'll all be milkshakes." _

_ ~ _

_ "So you're gonna put the key into the ignition-" _

_ "Seriously Ven, I think I can do it myself!" _

_ "I'd usually trust you, but then we'd end up in a ditch and you'd yell at me for letting you do this on your own." _

_ "Oh, fine then!" _

_ "So now you're gonna put your foot on the gas- no, not that hard!" _

_ "Sorry." _

_ "Slowly press down..." _

_ "Hey, we're moving! I'm actually driving!"  _

_ "I knew you could do it." _

~

_ "Why the hell did you do that?" _

_ "You mean 'spray-paint art onto our very bland-looking vehicle'?" _

_ "You vandalized my-" _

_ "Our. I own this too, you know. We have to do our part to make a mark out here, Ven!" _

_ "You could have asked me first." _

_ "What would you have said?" _

_ "Um..." _

_ "Yeah, that's why I didn't ask." _

_ "Listen, Al. I'm sorry for yelling... and for preventing you from expressing your-" _

_ "Our. Ourselves. You know you want to stand out too." _

_ "Yeah... I guess I do." _

_ "And I guess I'm sorry for doing this without telling you." _

_ "Hey." _

_ "Yeah?" _

_ "I love you." _

_ "I love you too." _

~

They've had arguments before, but never to the point where one of them stops talking to the other, or even to where they couldn't find a solution within an hour.

The Four and Storm had been gone for around four hours now.

He couldn't imagine what Al must be feeling. She was always a bit unpredictable when it came to her emotions, but it had never escalated to this level before. He had never wanted to hurt her, but he had, and it killed him on the inside. 

He was almost on the verge of tears when he finally decided to give up on sleep. He found his way to the studio, grabbed his silver chrome bass, and started plucking away at it. The vibrations always seemed to calm him down. 

Eventually, however, the aimless melody transformed into the song Al had wrote, Zero Percent. He and Kobra Kid had played the lines together for that recording because Al loves the sound of bass guitars, and they knew it would be awesome if there was twice the amount. He played the line effortlessly, relying on muscle memory. He whispered the lyrics to himself as he played, though in his opinion, he couldn't sing for his life.

He loved her. That was the one thing he had been sure about since he had been in the Zones. He loved her more than anything else in existence.

". . . - - - . . ."

_ An SOS, _ Vendetta realized, frantically putting down his bass and grabbing his comm from his belt. He read the small screen and recognized Party Poison's personal code. He pressed a button and spoke into the receiver, "Poison! What's wrong?"

_ "Alien's not here." _

"Wait,  _ what _ ?"

_ "She's been taken by BLI." _

Vendetta shot up from his seat. "I'll be right there!" He hung up his bass and ran as fast as he could down the stairs.

He tapped the Girl's shoulder.  "Hey! Wake up!"

The child awoke slowly. "Ven? What's-"

The silver-haired Killjoy rapidly pulled on his varsity jacket. "We have to get to the city!"

She suddenly bolted up. "What happened?"

He slung his gun holster over his shoulder and slid his silver ray gun into it. "Al's gone, she was captured!"

She jumped up and scrambled to find her jacket. "Oh my gosh! E.T.! We have to get to the city!"

"That's what I just said!" 

She ignored this, found her jacket, gun, and holster and put them all on. "Wait, how are we gonna get there? If she's gone on her own, she must've had the van—"

"There's no time, follow me!" He ran to the stairs, and she struggled to catch up.

They both made their way outside, and Vendetta picked the Girl up and ran along the highway. They stopped after a few minutes next to a boulder similar to the one covering the Nest.

"How do you run that fast?" the Girl asked. 

"Adrenaline! The love of my life could be dead for all I know!" Vendetta pushed his hands under the fake boulder and lifted it. 

The Girl's eyes widened. Part of the ground beside the rock had begun to sink into the ground, forming a ramp. And underneath the boulder itself sat a shiny motorcycle. 

"Where the heck—" she was shocked into silence.

"It used to be Cherri Cola's but he found another one and gave this one to us for emergencies," Vendetta explained as he hopped into the small garage to rev up the bike's engine. "Total deus ex machina, I know, but that's its entire purpose. Ghoul figured this whole storage thing for it since it couldn't be put into the Nest."

"What does that mean?  _ Day oos ex- _ "

"It's something that comes out of the blue and saves people. Now you should probably get on!" he gestured for her to come over. He picked her up and put her on the seat, then sat in front of her. She clutched his jacket in anticipation.

And with that, he pushed down the gas pedal. The two of them sped off into the sunrise.

 


	24. 23.

General Atomic Alien awoke.

She looked around with slight confusion, her blurry vision only permitting her to see an ocean of white light.

She was surprisingly calm given the circumstances. The last thing she could remember was-

It hit her. 

She shot out of whatever she was laying on and rubbed her eyes frantically. She looked around again to find a sterile white room with no visible windows and a sealed door.

She'd been here before.

This was BLI.

She quickly reached to her forehead to find that her signature metal goggles were gone. Her normal clothes were also removed in favor of a stark white hospital gown-looking thing. She pulled a strand of hair in front of her eyes and sighed with relief to see that it was still purple.

Her memories of her capture were blurry, but she did remember some fuzzy images: speeding down Route Guano, headlights in her rear-view, a shattering behind her, a blast hitting her neck. 

Before that—

_ Ven. _

Her eyes began to fill. 

She had never been one to keep grudges. Even after a fight with someone she barely knew, she would always give them a second chance. But it had never been Vendetta she was fighting with. Sure, they'd had a skirmish here and there, but never of this scale. He had always stuck by her, no matter the cost.

She loved him. She knew that, she'd always known that. But she'd never questioned whether he loved her in return.

She sat back down on the cot she had been laying on and let the tears fall from her eyes.

Suddenly, there was a loud click, and the door in front of her opened.

There were two Scarecrows standing in the doorway. Their masks covered their heads completely, preventing them from showing any emotion.

She chuckled to herself as she had been in this exact position two years ago when she had met him.

She wiped the wetness from her face and smirked slyly at the Scarecrows. "So what're ya gonna do?" she laughed. "Kill me? No wait, you can't! You need me. I've got all the information you asshats need right in here." She tapped the side of her head referring to her brain. "And you know what?" She stepped closer to them so she was staring into where she presumed their eyes were. "It's right in front of you, but you can't get it. Why? Because I'll never give it to you. Ever. I don't care what you do to me; you won't get it."

The Scarecrows seemed to ignore every word Alien said. "We have been instructed to bring you to the Director for interrogation," the one on the left said monotonously. 

"Alright, I get it. I've already done this once, I don't need a step-by-step tutorial." She jumped around a bit, waiting for them to storm in and grab her. "What're ya waitin' for?"

They did exactly as she expected, and she didn't struggle. They pulled her out of the cell. It felt to her as if she was reliving the moment of her initial capture in 2016. 

After passing through a few identical hallways, the Scarecrows stopped at a door that was identical to all the others. One of them slid a card into a slot beside the door and pushed the door open, and the other pushed Alien inside.

The room was a bit larger than the cell she had been in, and there was a small table in the center of the room. Two chairs were placed on opposite sides of the table. The Scarecrow led Alien to one of the chairs and pushed her into it.

"Geez, you don't have to be so violent," she said, reminded of Vendetta when she said  _ violent. _

A woman sat in the chair across from her. She looked Japanese, wore business attire, and had neatly styled black hair.

"Hello," she said calmly. "I am-"

"The Director," Alien cut her off. "Believe me, I know who you are."

The Director ignored this. "I am going to ask you some questions and you will answer them quickly and without resistance. Do you understand?"

"Of course," Alien replied, mocking the woman's calm tone.

"Atomic Alien," The Director stated. "That is what you are called by the Killjoys, is it not?"

"The one and only!" Alien winked.

"What is your name?" the Director asked. "And before you say that your alias is your name, that is not what I mean. Your parental units would not have given you a name so harsh to hear."

Alien's eyes widened. "Wait, you mean you don't know who I was?" she began to laugh. "Really! Have I changed that much?"

"Yes. Your identity was not able to be identified by our scanners."

Alien laughed louder. "Ha! For once, there's something you don't know!"

"Answer the question, please!" The Director raised her voice.

"Oh really?" Alien commented. "You actually think I'm going to tell you what my name was? I actually have  _ privacy _ now, do you really think I'm going to give that up?"

The Director sighed. "Alright, moving on. Where is the main base of the gang known as the Fabulous Four?"

"I'm definitely not telling you that."

"One more for you to think about, then," the Director began. "Do you know the whereabouts of the children of Edward Castellan?"

Alien hesitated. She couldn't give Storm and Sunset to BLI. Even after what Sunset did, Alien wouldn't wish what BLI did on her. "What do you mean?" she feigned confusion. "Why would I know that? They're here in the city, right?"

If the Director knew Alien was lying, she wasn't showing it. "Lucas and Hailey Castellan evaded capture by our operatives."

"You tried to capture them? Why? Haven't they 'complied' to your rules?" Alien made air quotes around 'complied'.

"No, the Castellan family were found to have been committing treason against Better Living Industries. The parents were eliminated, but the children escaped."

"Well, I have no idea where they might be," Alien lied, "and even if I did, I wouldn't say a word."

The Director looked up at the Scarecrow. "Take her back to her containment unit. We will resume tomorrow," she said to Alien, "so think about your answers."

Alien sighed and let herself be led back to her cell, where she sat and thought about nothing in particular.

She really hoped that the Killjoys had noticed she was gone. If they didn't get here soon, BLI would probably enforce harsher punishments, as in torture. Of course, being the diligent general she was, she vowed to herself not to say a single word about anything even related to the Killjoy army, other than the fact that she was no longer the little girl who ran from the city three years ago.

She was going to fight, and nothing could stop her.


	25. 24.

Vendetta and the Girl arrived at the city line about an hour and a half later. The motorcycle they were on was one of the fastest vehicles in the Zones, because it had been stolen from BLI, which constantly makes innovations to their machines.

The Girl was fascinated by the speed they were moving at. Their surroundings were nothing but a blur as they flew down the highway. 

Of course, BLI now occupied the Getaway Mile, so they had to enter through the exit point they had traveled through when Vendetta had met the siblings.

The bike skidded to a stop after it shot through the gate. The Trans Am was already there, unoccupied. Vendetta put down the kickstand and ran into the street as fast as he could, and the Girl did all she could to keep up.

They arrived at Jared and Shannon's shop and ran inside to find the Four, Storm, Sunset, and the two ex-Killjoys standing around a table, muttering to each other. They all looked up when the Girl and Vendetta came inside.

"You're here!" Poison called them over to the table. They had all been looking at a floor plan of BLI HQ, trying to formulate a plan to rescue Alien. Shannon was furiously typing on a laptop. Ghoul, however, was nowhere to be seen.

The Girl jumped into Poison's arms and he lifted her into a hug. He was like a big brother to her.

"Cap, Hunter, hi," Vendetta quickly greeted his friends, then focused on the floor plan. 

"Alright, I'll fill you in," Shannon began. "I managed to get into BLI's records and find out where she's being held. Here," he pointed at a group of small rooms, "that's the high-security section. That makes it more dangerous for us. Specifically Cell A4."

"Okay," Vendetta nodded.

Poison jumped in. "Our original plan was for us to just run in there-"

"Which would be a suicide mission," Kobra interrupted.

"But I had a better idea," Storm said.

"What is it?" Vendetta asked, curious.

"Well, these two," Jared gestured to the siblings matter-of-factly, "are wanted by BLI, you know that. But now, they're number one!" he grinned.

"What do you mean?" Vendetta started to look worried.

"They're BLI's Most Wanted, both of them!"

Storm chuckled and muttered, "Did you really expect anything else?"

"Anyone wearing a BLI uniform that brings you two in will never be questioned," Jet told them. "So if we were to take down a couple of 'Crows..."

"You're basically our free ticket into the building!" Jared grinned at them.

Poison elaborated, "So basically, we go to the nearest place we can find Scarecrows, like a BLI complaint center or something, grab their uniforms and IDs, then put you three in handcuffs and take you to the high-security prison section. Shannon can loop the cameras so they don't see us, then we find Alien."

"Then what?" Vendetta asked. 

"We haven't gotten that far yet," Shannon said. "I did contact a few Tumbleweeds and Juviehalls in here; we could probably storm the building as a distraction and you guys can run out."

"Really?" Jared asked his brother. "Who'd you get?"

"The Star Set, New Americana, a couple others. Oh, and Killer King."

"How'd you get him?" Vendetta asked. "He hates her. Not sure why, but..."

"He said that she's a good leader and the desert needs her. That was it," Shannon explained. "Also, he said he'd try to contact Northern Downpour. I told him that it was really unlikely he'd respond, but-"

"Is no one going to mention that staging an attack on the building, even if it is just a distraction, is a  _ really _ bad idea?" Kobra brought up. 

"That's true," Sunset agreed. "BLI is really powerful right now."

"But so are we," Poison said. "We can call in the Suitehearts. Cola and Pony could come in too. You know what? Dr. D could broadcast it-"

"No!" Storm argued. "The whole desert would run in without a plan, and BLI would just produce more soldiers! We'd be annihilated, we can't take that risk!"

Everyone went silent. Storm blushed and looked down, embarrassed.

"Dude, I agree with you," Jared said suddenly. "We can handle this with what we've got. The city rats have got it all under control."

Storm hesitated. "Thanks, Jared."

"You know what?" He looked to Shannon, then back to Storm. "Call me Capricorn."

"What's up, fuckers?!" A very hyper and drunk Ghoul hopped into the room. "Guess what?"

Jet audibly sighed. "What is it, Ghoul?"

"I made a bomb," He grinned ear-to-ear. "We could take down BLI  _ today _ !" 

Kobra looked extremely concerned. "Ghoul, you're drunk. You know one bomb could never-"

"The Girl could," he argued. "Ya know, I tried to channel all my anger while I made that thing. It'll work, I swear!"

The Girl grinned. "Hell yeah, I could!" She really didn't know what they were talking about, but she went with it. 

"Ghoul, seriously?" Poison laughed. "That's a totally different thing!"

"Whatever, man," Ghoul said dejectedly. "Can we at least try it?"

"I don't see why not," Jared- Capricorn? said. "It could be part of the distraction. We could take out the prison section, at least."

"We don't even know how big this thing is, or how he managed to do it in an hour and a half," Shannon told his brother.

"Oh, it's big, alright," Ghoul slurred. "C'mon, I'll show you. It's in the car."

A few minutes later, they stood in front of a large and powerful-looking bomb, filled with wires and panels, that was calmly sitting in the trunk of the Trans Am. Their eyes were all wide, except for Ghoul, who was wearing a smug grin.

"I didn't make it in an hour and a half, by the way," he told them. "Remember the thing I was working on at the Dead Pegasus the one day?" Poison looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, I've been working on it ever since! It's been in the trunk, and I was just finishing it."

"We had a bomb sitting in our car for a month, and you didn't think to tell any of us?" Jet said, still shocked.

"I was saving it for something bad," Ghoul said. "And anyway, it wasn't finished, it wouldn't have gone off."

"Well now we have it, so let's use it!" Capricorn jumped in.

Shannon winced. "I don't know if that's the best idea-"

"Come on,  _ Hunter, _ " He continued, purposefully using his brother's Killjoy name. "You know you want to, you used to love this stuff!"

Shannon paused. He looked deep in thought for a second, then said, "Okay, fine. Do it. I'm gonna go meet the Juvies." He moved to walk in the opposite direction, but quickly turned around and said, "And if any of you call me Shannon one more time, I'll shoot your ass."

Vendetta started to mutter to himself about how Alien shot him in the ass once, but was cut off by Capricorn jumping in the air and yelling, "MARS is back, motherfuckers! PROVEHITO IN ALTUM!" He then proceeded to run after Hunter.

Sunset, who was very confused by all of this, asked her brother, "What did he say? Was that Latin?"

He shook his head and responded, "I have no idea."

 


	26. 25.

Alien was getting bored.

Sure, four times so far the 'Crows would come in, drag her to a torture room, and have her electrocuted every time she gave an inadequate answer to a question, but she was already getting sick of it. She was an impatient person. See, in the desert, there was always something to do, see, and hear (not taste, unfortunately), and people to talk to. But in here it was just, "okay, lets torture her a bit; alright, if we torture her any more she'll die, let's give her a break; this break's been long enough, let's torture her again," and so on for what seemed like days but was really only one day. 

Yeah, she was picky. No need to sue her, she's already wanted by the government.

~

The ragtag band of rebels had followed the newly returning pair of Killjoys, Capricorn and Night Hunter, to a street corner near a subway entrance, where a bunch of people were waiting for them. The Girl had fallen asleep on Hunter's bed, so they let her stay there for the moment. 

There was a group of five called the Star Set led by a guy named Dustin, a girl called New Americana with blue hair, a group of three called Waterparks, and a few others, including Killer King and another boy that he'd never seen, wearing a vest and a flowery scarf.

Obviously, Storm didn't really want to meet any of them, but he smiled and waved like any awkward person would in that situation. Fortunately, Poison took a break from being a hardened soldier to hold his boyfriend's hand.

Killer talked to Poison for a bit, which Storm couldn't help but listen to. Apparently, the other boy was called Northern Downpour. He was also an ex-Killjoy, but had left a long time before the MARS boys had. He never said why.

After a bit, Killer noticed Storm and greeted him. "Hey, kid, I remember you! You were with Alien that one day."

"Yeah, that's me," Storm replied shyly. 

Killer grinned, then his face contorted. "You look familiar," he said. "Not from the last time I saw you. Did you like, do something before the war?"

Storm stifled a chuckle. "Nah, I don't think so." The last thing he needed was someone recognizing him. 

"Okay, sorry," the Tumbleweed laughed. "Must be deja vu or something. Hey, have you met Downpour?" He gestured to the other boy, who was standing away from the crowd. When he noticed Killer's gesture, he waved shyly and looked away. 

"He doesn't seem like he wants to socialize right now," Storm said. "He's probably anxious."

"Yeah," Killer sighed. "I'm gonna go keep him company."

Poison pulled Storm aside. "Bye Killer!"

"See ya on the other side, boys." He waved and walked back over to his friend.

Poison leaned in towards Storm. "The reason Downpour doesn't want to talk is... well, it's a long story. Basically, he and Killer were in a gang with two other guys called Young Vein and Green Gentleman. One day they got in a clap and the two others died. Killer and Downpour barely made it out, but Downpour was convinced it was his fault, so he exiled himself, in a way. No one's seen him and he hasn't seen anyone since."

"Oh," Storm replied, not really knowing what to say. "That's pretty sad."

"Yeah," he said, a bit wistful and a bit sad. "Killer's really all he's got now."

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Hunter's voice carried over the group. All of their eyes trained on him. He stood next to Ghoul's bomb with Capricorn. "As you know, this is a rescue mission. The leader of the Killjoys, Atomic Alien, has been captured, but we have a plan to fix that." He motioned for everyone to gather around, and he laid the map of the prison section on the ground. He began explaining their plan in general terms and assigning jobs to people. "Cap and I will be in the surveillance room watching you guys. The Four will take Storm, Sunset, and Vendetta in as prisoners, and then they'll pull Alien out. The Star Set will take the bomb into the prison section, then they'll pull out the rest of the prisoners. Then they'll set the bomb to detonate in five minutes, which gives everyone time to get out of the building. The rest of you agreed to stage the distraction while this is happening, which means you'll run in and shoot at everything that moves and wears white. Got it?"

There was a chorus of affirmatives.

"Good. Let's go make some noise!"

~

"See those 'Crows over there?" Poison pointed to a group of four Scarecrows facing away from them.

"Yeah. You're just gonna go up behind them and take them out?" Storm asked.

"Stun them," Jet corrected. "Then we take their uniforms."

"Easy peasy pumpkin peasy," Ghoul slurred, still coming down from his drunken haze. "Pumpkin pie, mutherfucker."

"What?" Sunset laughed.

Poison rolled his eyes and said, "Don't ask."

The Four snuck behind the Scarecrows and simultaneously shot them in their necks.

Poison pretended to blow smoke from his ray gun's emitter. "Good shot, boys!"

They had all left their jackets with Capricorn and Hunter, so it was easy for them to layer the BLI uniforms over their own. When they finished, they were indistinguishable from any other Scarecrows. The masks covered their faces.

"I don't like this," Ghoul whined.

"Deal with it," Kobra said. He held out three pairs of BLI-brand handcuffs. Each other Four member took one and put them on each "prisoner".

"Hey," Poison's voice whispered in Storm's ear. "You alright?"

"I'm not sure," the younger boy confessed. "Being in the city is making me anxious."

"Just remember," Poison replied, "I'm here for you."

"I love you," Storm said, meaning it with all the passion he had.

"I love you too. Now quick, act like you don't."

So he did.

The group of seven started toward BLI's prison building. 

When they entered, they walked to the door that would lead them to the high-security section. There was a small scanner waiting for them.

_ "Hello. What are your intentions?"  _ a metallic voice asked.

Poison spoke in a monotone voice. "We have taken," he hesitated before saying their real names, "Lucas and Hailey Castellan into custody, as well as a Killjoy known as Violent Vendetta."

_ "Please scan your identification," _ the scanner said.

All four undercover Killjoys took out the Scarecrows' ID cards and scanned them one at a time.

_ "Thank you. Have a Better day!" _ The door clicked to show that it was unlocked, and Kobra pushed it open. Ghoul and Poison led Sunset and Storm in, and Jet and Vendetta came in last Kobra jumped in before the door closed and locked behind them.

They stayed in character while walking down the hallways before they reached the high-security section. When they arrived, Ghoul, Jet, Kobra, and Poison scanned their IDs again and were let in. 

Poison, still acting, passed Storm to Kobra and pulled out his communicator, which he had transferred from his belt to the Crow's. "Scarecrow G49 to Z10, do you read?"

Storm knew the code they were using. G stood for Gerard, Poison's real name, and 49 was April 9th, his birthday. Z10 referred to Capricorn being the 10th Zodiac sign.

_ "I read, G49,"  _ Capricorn's voice came through the speaker.  _ "You've gone BLIND." _

"Thanks. Over and out." Poison turned off his comm and pulled the Scarecrow mask off. "They successfully looped the cameras. You are free to go."

"Oh thank god," Jet said, taking off his mask and shaking his hair out. "That was torturous." 

Three of the Four unlocked the other three Killjoys' handcuffs. 

Poison randomly grabbed Storm and kissed him. Storm didn't expect it, but he was thankful. When they broke apart, Poison began addressing his group. 

"Alright, we're looking for Cell A4, which should be thataway," he pointed to the right down a hallway.

They all started down the hallway, scanning the numbers beside the identical doors.

~

Alien was asleep in her cell. She was in more pain than she'd ever been in. It had been a struggle to relax, but finally sleep took her.

Then she vaguely heard voices.

She opened her eyes slightly and slowly sat up, trying to ignore her body screaming at her. At first she thought she was going crazy, then she heard it more clearly and realized she wasn't. 

"Guys! Look, I found it!"

_ That's Jet's voice, _ she realized.  _ They're here.  _

Her cell door clicked, then it opened. 

_ Ven. _

He ran inside the cell. "Oh my god, Al!" he kneeled beside her. "Are you alright?"

She raised her arm, gathered all her strength, and slapped him across the face. "...don't ever do that to me again..." her voice was raspy, but it got the point across.

Vendetta quickly recovered. "Listen, words cannot even express how sorry I am! I swear to Destroya, I love you more than anything else in the world!"

"...fine," she said, "...i forgive you, now let's get out of here..."

He didn't hesitate to pick her up bridal style and carry her out. 

Ghoul ran to the end of the hallway. "Hey, I found a button that says it'll open all the cells!"

"What are you waiting for?" Poison shouted back. "Press it!"

Ghoul did, and all of the cell doors opened automatically. Only three of them were occupied, and their occupants were very confused as they exited their cells. 

"Hey everyone, this is a rescue!" Sunset yelled to them. "Now let's all run to the exit!"

They all ran to the exit.

When they exited the high-security section, they began to hear the sound of ray guns being fired.

"They're probably staging the distraction," Poison told Storm.

Storm took Poison's hand. "We're actually gonna get through this!" He laughed as they ran together.

Then, alarms began to sound.


	27. 26.

The Star Set had a fairly easy job.

Get in, plant the weapon, break the prison, get out. 

Someone made a mistake somewhere, because halfway through the job, alarms started wailing.

They weren't sure whose mistake it was, and they didn't really care. They just knew the job had to move twice as fast.

They overrode the cell door locks and all the captives barreled out like there was a Drac patrol on their tails. They all knew where the exit was, so each one ran as fast as their legs could carry them to freedom.

Four of the Star Set guys had been carrying the bomb. They set it down in the center of the section.

Dustin, the leader, grabbed his comm and frantically called Capricorn. "Z10! This is Sandstorm, do you read? We have an emergency!"

_ "I read, Sandstorm. I'm transmitting the abort code to everyone now! Just set it and move!" _

"Roger that," Dustin said, and gave his guys the signal to set the detonation time. "Over and out."

The weapon would detonate in exactly five minutes.

The five Juviehalls ordered the prisoners to run, and the mass of people made their way out, hopefully not to their deaths.

~

"Shit!" Poison yelled. "We've got to move! Go, go go!"

The group of seven ran even faster (minus Alien, she was still being carried, despite her protests). They burst into the lobby and were greeted with mounds of people, some in color, some in white, all engaged in the battle of their lifetimes. The seven Killjoys found a spot behind a corner, where they stopped to get their bearings.

"ven..." Alien rasped, "you need to put me down... i have to fight..."

"No!" he protested. "You're hurt, you can't!"

"Al!" Storm cut in. "Can you walk? Or run, whatever?"

"...i think so," she slowly attempted to get to her feet. "yeah, i can..."

"Good. Lean on me, let's go!" Storm wrapped his arm around Alien's waist and held her up.

"Alright, get out your guns," Poison ordered. "Let's move!"

The group ran out into the fight, firing their blasters at anything white. 

Alien limped along, relying almost completely on Storm, ignoring the pain shooting up from her feet. She was still attempting to shoot decently, and half-succeeding. She hated being weak almost as much as she hated being bored.

Vendetta and Jet ran around checking on wounded people. There actually weren't that many rebels injured, which was awesome for them, because they could continue making their way to the door. 

Storm wanted to take Poison's hand, but it would probably distract him from his leader duties. It wasn't exactly the time.

They reached the doors. People were already starting to go out through them; Storm figured they were the prisoners from the low-security section. The three guys from high-security stuck close to the Killjoys. 

No one seemed to notice the beam that emitted from a BLI ray gun and headed straight for Vendetta.

They burst out the doors and ran into the nearest alley, the BLI prisoners followed close behind.

Vendetta clung to the wall and slowly slid down into a sitting position. The rest of them clustered close to each other for fear of being found by BLI.

"...hey," Alien smiled at her boyfriend. "you gonna explain now...?"

He was very out of breath. "I swear to any powers that be, Destroya, the Phoenix Witch, whatever, I love you more than life itself." He panted through the statement.

"It was me," Sunset interjected. "I was drunk. I'm so sorry, Alien."

"...it's alright. we all do shit we regret."

Vendetta suddenly doubled over in pain. Alien gasped and yelled, "are you okay? what's wrong?"

Jet leaned over the other medic and spotted a large burn on his jacket. "He was shot."

Vendetta fell to the ground and laid there, face contorted in agony.

"His heart's slowing!" Jet yelled. "The blast must have gone to his involuntary functions!" He immediately began pressing on his chest, hoping to restart his heart. 

"Al.." Vendetta gasped. "I- I can't, I-" His throat closed, cutting his speech off.

"ven, it's okay, i'm here," Alien clutched his hands. "don't let go, i won't let you!"

"I have to-" he managed. "I can't-"

"yes you can," she insisted. "you have to, damnit! please, destroya..."

"It's not working," Jet shouted frantically. 

"Al, listen-" Vendetta choked out. "Never stop- keep running- don't let-"

He drew in one last breath.

"I love you."

His hands went limp in hers.

Alien froze. She didn't let go of his hands.

Jet sat back, defeated. He reached over and closed Vendetta's eyes.

Storm took Sunset's hand. She squeezed back.

Poison put an arm around Ghoul. 

The building behind them suddenly went up in flames, as planned.

"Quiet are your colors," Jet whispered.

_ "but killjoys never die." _


	28. 27.

Alien's car was taken from BLI's repair center. It had been completely painted over with white. Her clothes had been put into a box, which had been put in a storage closet. Those were also retrieved.

But she didn't seem to care. 

She walked with the others, not saying a single word. Her face was blank.

Hunter and Capricorn had voted to return to the Zones with the Killjoys.

Alien fell into Capricorn's arms when she saw him. She clung to her friend, because she felt that if she didn't, she would break. 

BLI's prison building was completely annihilated. All that was left was ash and rubble.

The three prisoners who had also been in the high-security section were all brothers, who supposedly had formed a rebel group that they called Palaye Royale. They had caused a ton of problems for BLI until they were captured. They all had fancy names: Remington, Sebastian, Emerson. They also said that they wanted to move out to the desert.

There were actually three rows of seats in Alien's van. The last row was able to fold into the floor to make room for supplies, however, so no one ever saw them. They were opened up to make room for the three new recruits, who rode into the Zones with the general and the MARS boys.

Hunter drove. He and Vendetta had been very good friends back when he and his brother had been in the desert. He wasn't showing it, but he was devastated. Sunset sat in the passenger seat. She was plagued with even more guilt than she was before.

Alien sat between Capricorn and Storm in the second row. She was still completely blank, but she clutched Capricorn's hand and leaned on him. He comforted her as best he could. He knew she needed that more than anything. Storm wanted to take her hand, but was afraid of her reaction.

The Fabulous Four sat in the Trans Am, completely silent.

Poison was longing to just wrap his arms around Storm and never let go. He felt terrible for Alien. She knew her emotions were completely different from any of theirs, so he couldn't imagine what she was feeling.

Kobra held his poker face, though on the inside, there was a black hole devouring him from the inside. He resisted the urge to take his brother's hand.

The Girl cried. When she heard what had happened, she had jumped into Jet's arms and hadn't let go. She didn't want to seem like a child, but she really didn't care.

Jet attempted to remain strong, but it was very hard. He and Vendetta had been very close, always working better together. He was trying to push the memory of his death out of his head, but he wasn't succeeding. Tears streamed from his eyes, but he held the Girl anyway.

Ghoul was angry. Angry at BLI, angry at the whole city, at what was left of America, at the whole universe, for hurting his friends. He wanted to storm into the city and slaughter every goddamn Drac, Scarecrow, Exterminator, and higher-up in the whole city. He wanted it all to burn.

Vendetta's body laid in the back of the van. He was positioned in a way that made him look like he was sleeping.

They had a sort of funeral for him when they got back to the Nest. They all worked to dig a hole that he would fit in, due to his height. Jet was the only one strong enough to carry him, and he laid him in the grave as gently as he could.

Cherri Cola had finally shown up to pay his respects and say a small prayer. The Suitehearts were there too. Kobra hung onto Sandman, and Sandman did the same. Benzedrine comforted Jet, but really, he needed comfort as well.

They found a small rock to serve as a headstone. Traditionally, a Killjoy's real name, as well as their alias, was displayed on their headstone, because one always returned to their original state in death. However, Alien was the only person who knew his real name, and when asked what it was, she refused to tell.

The Suitehearts, on their way home, took Vendetta's mask to the nearest mailbox. Killjoys believed that if an item close to someone's soul was put into one of these mailboxes, the Phoenix Witch would come to pick it up and guide their soul to the afterlife. Masks are the most common items used, due to their role in hiding one's identity.

Alien didn't go to the funeral.

She sat in her and Vendetta's bed and looked up at the ceiling, numb.

The one thing that she wanted to do at that moment was cling to her love and never let go, but she couldn't.

She just hoped that the Witch would watch over him.

She had never been big on religion, and neither had he, but when they came to the desert, they regularly had dreams about a creature covered in feathers leading a shopping cart around the Zones, guiding people's souls home. And they would always have these dreams at the same exact time.

She was sad- no, that's not the right word. She was devastated. The one person she had been able to be herself around, who she cared for, who she loved, was gone in an instant.

But she could never show it.

She hadn't cried in years, not even when Myth had died, or when her parents were brainwashed. Her body had an interesting way of completely rejecting her mind's feelings.

She hadn't spoken a single word since it happened. She just couldn't find the words for what was happening in her head.

 


	29. 28.

The sun had begun to rise. As the world came into view, one could see a small car and a minivan speeding down Route Guano.

The Four, Alien, and Storm were headed to Dr. Death Defying's radio station to tell him what had happened. The three recruits and the Suitehearts were staying at the Nest for now. 

Storm was driving the van, Alien was in the passenger seat. The two were alone, which didn't happen very often.

The song Zero Percent was stuck in her head. She remembered writing the lyrics as individual thoughts and sentences, things that she and all the Killjoys believed in. She had joked that Mr. Sandman should give her a poetry lesson, but Ven had said that she didn't need it. 

She reached into the van's console and pulled out a blank CD case. She took the disc from it and slid it into the dashboard. Her song exploded from the speakers. Storm wanted to turn it down, but he knew she needed to cope with her feelings, so he let it be, and focused on Poison's voice.

"Hey, you alright?" Storm asked his friend when the song ended.

She didn't respond.

He sighed. He had no idea how to help her, or even if he could. "That song's pretty good," he tried to make conversation. "Who did drums for the recording?"

It was a question. It was a bit harder for her not to answer questions. But she didn't anyway.

"Hey..." he attempted, "Why aren't you talking?"

_ I'd rather talk to Ven. _

Suddenly, a bright light reflected in the rear-view mirror. Storm looked back and his face fell. 

They were being tailed by Draculoids, and the Dracs were being led by Korse.

Storm suddenly remembered:

_ Run. _

_ A gun was pressed to his father's temple, held by BLI's top Exterminator.  _

_ The trigger was pulled.  _

_ Lifeless eyes stared back at them as they stood in horror. _

_ Lucas grabbed Hailey's hand and pulled her aside to the fire escape, and they climbed down onto the street _ .

He desperately pulled himself back to the present. He shook his head to clear it, but it remained filled with rage. He sped up a little so the van was parallel to the Trans Am.

Poison skillfully kept the car from swerving as well as shooting at the enemies. He actually used his mirror to reflect the shots a couple of times, shooting at the glass and reflecting the blast toward the Dracs. Storm's heart ached.  _ I love it when he uses strategy _ .

Ghoul and the Girl leaned out of the sunroof, holding some sort of cannon. Ghoul helped the Girl fire it, and a missile blasted out of it and hit one of the Dracs. They laughed in glee at their success. 

Storm punched the gas and pulled in front of the Trans Am. He slid the van onto the right side of the other car, forcing the Dracs on that side to slow down and move backward.

Kobra was diligently firing away at the Dracs. He was completely focused on the task at hand. Jet desperately tried to stop his hair from blowing into his face as he fired his gun.

Alien leaned out of the sunroof as always to get a better vantage point. She took as many shots as she could, but the Dracs seemed to multiply as she shot them down. 

Storm watched the action from his mirrors. The blue rays from Alien's gun continued to aim at Korse, but he dodged with much skill. He grinned at the general maliciously and made to aim his gun at her. 

"Al! Get down!" Storm warned. Alien complied.

Then Korse, in one swift movement, pulled his arm down and shot the van's back left tire.

The two killjoys felt this as a large bump, then the van swerving off of the road. Storm tried to regain control of the steering wheel, but his attempt was futile, because the van was beginning to fall on its side. It toppled onto the sand, shattering the driver's side window. Alien fell on top of Storm. They vaguely heard tires screeching, and a voice laughing evilly. 

Alien attempted to crawl off of Storm, but he stopped her. "Play dead!" She complied, and he did the same. Her being on top of him wasn't a big deal due to her small size.

Footsteps started to approach them. 

"I think they're dead, sir," a monotone voice said.

"Oh, I don't care about them, you know that," a smooth yet malicious reply came.  _ Korse. _

"What do you mean, sir?"

"The most powerful group of Killjoys in the desert are right over there, you idiot!" Korse yelled. 

_ Wait, _ Storm realized.  _ The most powerful group of- _

_ The Four. _

Storm heard Korse and the Drac's footsteps walking away from the van.

"Okay, I think it's safe," he whispered, and Alien started to inch her way out of the shattered windshield. Storm did the same.

Alien attempted to stand, but failed. She groaned in pain and held her leg.

"Al!" Storm knelt down. He knew she was still weak, but not weak enough to not be able to stand. "Is something wrong with your leg?" She nodded. "Alright, you're gonna have to stay here. I'll handle this." He pulled out his gun and stood up.

She wanted to stop him, but he was already pulling his bandanna over his face and running toward the fight.

The Four were standing in a line, all with their masks on. Jet's astronaut helmet had always been Alien's favorite.

Opposite them was Korse and three Draculoids. Korse held his gun menacingly with one hand.

As Storm ran towards them, he noticed that the Girl was standing to the side of them, holding her boombox. He changed his direction to go and get her out of there.

Then something grabbed his shoulder and held him. It was one of the Draculoids.

_ Shit.  _

He vaguely heard Poison's voice call his name. Poison tried to run to his boyfriend, but Jet held him back. The enemies hadn't attacked yet, there wasn't any point in doing it first.

"Well well well," Korse drawled. "Look what we have here!"

Storm struggled, but the Drac's grip was strong, due to its BLI "modifications". Another Drac also held onto him, pinning his arms behind his back.

Korse got really close to Storm's face. "Hello there, little Killjoy. Let's see who you really are behind this disguise." He reaches up and pulled Storm's bandanna off of his face. His eyes widened. "Ah, I seem to have luck on my side today! Isn't that right,  _ Lucas Castellan _ ?"

"That's not my name," Storm spat back.

"He speaks!" Korse grinned maniacally. "Tell me, where is your sister?"

"Fuck you," Storm said simply. "I'm not telling you shit."

"Feisty, aren't you?" Korse remained calm. "Well then, I guess you're useless to me." He turned to one of his Dracs. "Shoot him."

Poison yelled "No!" and started shooting at the enemies, but he wasn't quick enough. The Drac pressed his gun to Storm's back and pulled the trigger.

The last thing he heard was Korse whispering, "Keep running." His world slowly faded to black.


	30. 29.

The first thing he felt was a hand clutching his.

He couldn't hear anything other than the ringing in his ears.

His eyelids felt heavy, but he struggled to open them anyway. 

For a moment, he had no idea where he was. All he saw was two blurry figures standing around him.

He blinked a few times. Voices started to break through the flood in his ears.

_ "Jet! He's waking up!" _

_ "Oh! Don't be too harsh." _

_ "Storm? Can you hear me? This is Poison. Blink twice if you can hear me." _

He recognized the word Poison. He slowly blinked once, then a second time. The color red came into his view. 

"Oh, thank Destroya!" Poison laughed in relief. "Are you okay?"

He attempted to speak, but failed. He nodded instead, and attempted to sit up. He saw that he was in the med bay of the Nest. His memories began to come back to him gradually.

"No no no, don't do that," Jet pushed him back onto his cot. "You need to stay here for a few days."

He tried to speak again, and his voice came out as a dull rasp. "Poison?"

"Hey Storm," Poison replied. "I'm here."

"I love you."

"I love you too, I'm so glad you're okay." Poison squeezed Storm's hand. 

"How long have I been out?"

"Three days," Jet told him. "Thank god their guns were set to stun."

"Where's Al?"

"In the living quarters," Jet said. "She dislocated her knee. I set it back, but she's still recovering from... other things."

Storm remembered.  _ Vendetta. _ "Is she okay?"

Poison sighed. "I don't know. She won't talk. Not just to me, but to anyone."

The memories of the fight slowly came back to him, but he was knocked out in the middle of it. "What happened back there... with Korse?"

Poison sighed, deeper this time. "Well, I shot first. They threw you aside and we fought for a bit, but they got all of us. I came to first, and..."

"And what?"

Poison sniffed. "They took her. They have the Girl."

Storm was shocked. "What?"

"Korse just looked me in the eye and said, 'Keep running,' and then they just left. Then we all just got up and continued to D's. We left the van there, for obvious reasons. We told him what happened, and he said it was best if he came back to the Nest with us, so now he's here, broadcasting from Al's office. Pony's here too." Storm was wondering how they got Dr. D down into the Nest with his wheelchair, but thought it best not to ask.

Storm looked a bit closer at Jet for the first time, and noticed that something was wrong. "Why are you wearing an eyepatch?"

"Oh, this?" Jet replied. "Well, when the Dracs were shooting, they managed to get me right in the eye, so I can't see through it anymore. So now I just wear this."

"That sucks," Storm said.

"Yeah, it does." Jet sighed. "At least it's not the eye I use to aim."

There was a knock on the door. Jet stood to open it, and found Sunset standing there. She walked in to greet her brother.

"Hey Luca," she said, sitting on the side of his cot.

"Hi," he didn't bother correcting her about his name.

"Are you alright?"

"As I'll ever be," he attempted to joke.

"You gonna stay here for a while?"

"Not for long, I hope," he told her.

"I don't see why you should stay here for more than a day," Jet piped up. "Your body already had three days to process what happened."

"Oh, okay," he perked up a bit. Then he remembered that he wanted to ask something. "Do you have a plan to rescue the Girl?" he asked Poison.

"Um..." Poison began sheepishly. "Not exactly."

Jet jumped in, "We've been trying to figure something out the whole time you were in here, but we don't have any options other than just running in there..."

"...which would be a suicide mission," Poison finished.

"Hunter dug through every inch of the BLI database," Sunset told him, "but he couldn't find a single loophole. They upped the security to ten times the level it was at since our attack."

"Well," Storm tried, "What are we gonna do, then? Wait, never mind. I am not letting you run in there without a plan and get yourself killed." He addressed his boyfriend in a commanding tone. 

"Storm, we don't have any other option," Poison argued. "If we want to get her back, we have to go in there! She's our only chance at taking BLI down!"

"I don't care," Storm was adamant. "I am not losing the only person that I've ever loved that wasn't related to me!"

"Alright," Jet cut in. "Let's not have a full-on fight. We're going to figure something out, but until then, we're going to stay where we are."

The room was silent for a moment.

"Oh! Jet," Sunset said, "You said we would work on guitar today, right?"

"Oh yeah," Jet remembered. "Alright, let's go."

They said their goodbyes to Storm and left the room. 

"I didn't know she was learning guitar," Storm said to Poison.

"Yeah, Jet started teaching her chords yesterday." Poison quickly took Sunset's place on Storm's cot.

"And I bet you wouldn't make  _ her  _ go on stage with you with no warning," Storm joked.

Poison laughed. "Nah, don't feel like doing that to her yet."

Storm loved these moments, when he could block out every bad thing and pretend that everything was alright. When he was with Poison, he could do that.

They stayed there for what felt like hours, and probably was.

~ 

The next morning, Storm awoke fairly early. However, there was already a light on in the main room. He assumed that it was Sunset; she always woke up first.

He pushed himself to stand up, though his whole body was sore. He knew Jet had told him to stay in his cot until he deemed it appropriate, but he didn't really care. He slowly walked out into the main room, only to find it empty. 

"Hello?" he called, but received no answer. 

The light that was on as the lamp next to the table where the Killjoys left their weapons when they came in. Storm walked over to it, assuming that someone had left it on last night.

What he found, however, was that the Four's guns were missing. In their place was a note. It was folded up and labeled:

_ For Storm  _

Storm couldn't help but be confused, and a bit concerned. He unfolded the note and began to read.

_ Lucas, _

_ Hey. You might be wondering why our guns are gone, or maybe why we are gone, depending on when you find this. Or maybe you've already figured it out. I know you, so I'm going to assume that you already know. _

_ Anyway, we had to leave early if we wanted to get there in time, and Jet said you needed your rest, so I didn't wake you. I just wanted to say this. _

_ If we don't make it back- _

"Oh no," Storm muttered, and his stomach plummeted. He dreaded the thought of reading the next couple of lines, but he continued in spite of this.

_ If we don't make it back, I want you to keep going. Don't waste time on mourning us, just keep memories of us in your thoughts and and focus on what's ahead. Just remember one thing: _

_ I love you. _

_ Keep running, my love. _

_ -Gerard _

"No, no,  _ no _ !" Storm yelled, and ran down the stairs to the living quarters. Sure enough, the Four's cots were all empty. "Shit!"

"Kid?" Hunter's voice mumbled. "What the hell-"

"The Four are gone!" Storm yelled. 

"Wait,  _ what _ ?" Cherri Cola jumped up. "I told them, I said-"

"Guys," Show Pony attempted, "Let's not wake up the whole desert-"

"What the hell is going on?" One of the new recruits—Storm guessed his name was Remington—shouted.

"The Four left to rescue the Girl, but they had no plan!" Storm tried to explain without sounding panicked. "It's a suicide mission, they're going to get themselves killed!"

There was a chorus of negative reactions, spanning from Sunset's shocked, whispered "oh no" to Capricorn screaming "THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS BETTER COME OUT ALIVE OR I'LL RAISE THEM FROM THE DEAD TO KILL THEM AGAIN!"

Long story short, Storm, Dr. D, Pony, Sunset, and Cola were soon piled into Dr. D's van and speeding through the Zones in hope of saving their friends.


	31. 30.

Dr. Death's van shot through the Getaway Mile like a bullet. Its passengers were tense and anxious for what was yet to come.

They flew past the remains of what looked like a tollbooth.

"Look!" Storm pointed. "They must have come through here!"

"There's no way BLI doesn't know they're here," Cola sighed. He focused back on the road. He was convinced that he should have gone with them. He was a better shot than any of them, and they might have a better chance of getting out alive with him there.

Storm was terrified. He had faith in Poison, yes, but BLI was ruthless. They would stop at nothing to eliminate every imperfection, and Poison was a huge target with his bright red hair and rock-and-roll spirit. Storm didn't want to lose his love.

Sunset was guilty. It felt as if there was a black hole in her soul devouring her from the inside. She felt that she had caused all of this.  _ If I hadn't kissed him, Alien wouldn't have run away, and she wouldn't have gotten captured, and Vendetta wouldn't have died, and we wouldn't have had to go to D's to report, and the Girl wouldn't have been taken... _

Dr. Death was old. He had fought in both wars and seen enough death for two lifetimes. He had lost friends, family, his country, and even the use of his legs. And yet, he still felt. He couldn't imagine the blow the army would take if they lost the Four. So many people would be saddened at the loss of their heroes. He was the voice of the rebellion, and the army was his family. He didn't want them to suffer. 

They exited the Getaway Mile at top speed, flying toward BLI headquarters. Cola deftly guided the vehicle through the tight streets. 

As they closed in on the tall white building, they began to see flashes of light, blasts, flying through the air. They were all white, which meant that the Four were extremely outnumbered.

Storm scanned the scene for flashes of red. He was praying to any deity that would listen for Poison to run out of the building. 

They pulled closer. Suddenly, Fun Ghoul and Jet Star came into view, the Girl in tow. Ghoul pushed the front door of the building open, and Jet and the Girl ran through it. Then-

_ Oh no. _

Ghoul closed the door behind them, trapping himself inside. He continued to shoot at the Scarecrows, until a blast made its way towards him-

It hit him in the middle of his chest.

He fell onto the door, and slid down it, limp.

The Girl screamed and tried to run back to him, but Jet grabbed her hand and pulled her away. He saw Dr. D's van, and pushed her towards it. Pony saw this and pulled the van's door open for her to run into.

There was still no sign of Poison or Kobra.

Jet continued shooting, trying to hold the enemies off, to keep them away from the Girl. But then, another blast-

And Jet fell onto the hood of the Trans Am. 

The Girl arrived at the van, and Pony and Dr. D pulled her in. She was sobbing.

Pony began to close the door, but then, in a rush of adrenaline and panic, Storm pulled their arm away. "Stop! We have to wait for them! What if they're-"

"No!" Cola yelled. "We can't risk it!"

"We have to!" Storm begged. "Come on, they're-"

Pony pulled the door closed and Cola stepped on the gas pedal.

Storm was still screaming, attempting to open the door. Pony and Sunset had to hold him back.

As they pulled away from the building, Storm was reduced to a crying, screaming, mess of emotions. Through all of this, however, he kept his eyes trained on the building's doors, in the hope of seeing his love running out of them.

His sister held him as he cried. She stayed strong for him, despite the fact that on the inside, she was breaking.

They clung to each other in the midst of empty, endless darkness.

~

Storm was lost.

He felt no need to continue with life. He had no idea where to go now, he saw no point.

He clung to Sunset. She was the only thing he had left.

He sat with Alien sometimes. She still didn't speak, but neither did he.

He kept dwelling on random memories of Poison—Gerard—in his head. Of him teaching Storm to shoot, of them playing songs together; all of the Four and him playing songs together.

Cola gave an obituary for each of them over the radio. He talked about Jet's undying ability to be kind to everyone, how Ghoul's energy never failed to make people happy, how Kobra seemed unfeeling but always came through in the end, and how Poison was the best leader a gang could ever ask for.

All of this was true, but there was so much more to each of them. 

And Storm  _ hated _ BLI for taking that away.

The Girl ran away the next day. Cola, Pony, and Dr. D were taking her back to the station with them, but when they arrived, she just ran off. Cola said that he didn't blame her; she saw her best friends die right in front of her. 

Pony collected all of the footage from the cameras on Alien's van and put together a video for _Na Na Na_. It was more of a tribute to the Four than anything else, so it didn't show anyone else but them and the Girl. It ended with the Girl getting captured, and Korse saying "Keep running". Hunter hacked into BLI's security system and put together a bunch of footage from their last night into a video, and put it to a demo that the Four had just recorded with Storm. That one was intended as a call to arms for the Killjoys, to show them what BLI did and why they need to fight. Both of the videos were set to be released on a projector at the Pit. 

Alien told them (through a note; she still wasn't talking) that she wanted to give a speech at the Pit after the videos were shown. Hunter and Capricorn arranged it for her, and soon, the crowd was cheering for her as she walked on stage.

Her voice was rough at first from a week of not talking, but her message was the same. She told the story of her and Vendetta's relationship, and how they had been devoted to each other.

At the end, she described her anger at BLI. They had taken everything from her, and she vowed to fight back until her last breath.

Storm cheered along with the mass of Killjoys. Sunset did too. They stood against the tide, strong when they were together. 

Storm remembered Gerard's last words to him.  _ Don't waste time on mourning us, just keep memories of us in your thoughts and focus on what's ahead. _ He decided then that he would keep fighting, for him.

The three of them knew that things didn't end there. There would always be tragedy. But they knew that without tragedy, there is no happiness. Life goes on, whether they liked it or not.

And so, they lived.


	32. Epilogue: Cola's Obituary

_ "Salutations, desert dogs. This is Cherri Cola, bringing you the news of the day. Unfortunately, this is not good news, so sit tight, and listen up. Yesterday marked the end of the lives of the group known as the Fabulous Four. These men were known as Party Poison, Jet Star, Fun Ghoul, and Kobra Kid. Let me tell you a bit about them, if you don't know. _

_ Jet Star was a medic, and a damn good one. He's saved hundreds of lives out here in the Zones. He was also an amazing guitar player, and the kindest person I've ever met. He always stayed strong in the face of tragedy, and was there for anyone who needed it.  _

_ Fun Ghoul was... exactly that. He was energetic and hyper, and a helluva good fighter. He always had something to say to make people laugh. He was also a mechanic, and was responsible for the bomb that destroyed BLI's prison building last week. He was completely devoted to this fight, and to his friends. _

_ Kobra Kid is known for his constant poker face. Yeah, he didn't say much and didn't show it, but he was one of the most empathetic people I knew. He always came through for the people he cared about, and was amazing in a fight, as well as being a diligent bassist.  _

_ And Party Poison. Man, what do I even say about him? He was a Killjoy, through and through. He used his art, in all of its forms, to stand up for what he believed in, and he did it well. He was the voice of the Fabulous Four. He was an amazing leader, but stayed humble through it all. He loved his friends, his little brother Kobra, and his boyfriend Storm, more than anything else.  _

_ The one thing that I have to say to you guys is not to let this go. Keep these awesome guys in your thoughts, and keep their memories close. The fact that they're gone is proof that we need to keep fighting BLI. We need to fight for our freedom, and fight in their honor. _

_ Killjoys, let's make some noise!" _


	33. Epilogue: Alien's Speech

"Hey there, Killjoys. You may know me, or you may not, but it really doesn't matter right now. My name is Atomic Alien. I also hold the position of General, or Leader, it doesn't matter. I am here to speak with you all about recent losses. The ones that you have all heard about from Agent Cherri Cola are the deaths of the group known as the Fabulous Four. Now, I was very close to the Four. They were some of the best friends I've ever had, not just in the Zones, but anywhere else for that matter. However, there was one more loss that I have kept a secret, one that was much more personal to me, and that's what I want to talk about today. Let me tell you a story.

I used to know a boy. He lived in California his whole life and witnessed the events of the Fires of 2012. His parents were killed in the fallout, but BLI took him into custody. He lived in Battery City from the time of its construction and was in training to be a Scarecrow. However, after his first battle with the Killjoys, he realized BLI's true intentions and acted as an undercover intelligence for the Killjoys. BLI placed him on surveillance of a girl who they thought might not be following their rules. That girl was me. Of course, he always let me get away with reading  _ The Alchemyst _  in my closet. One day, someone else spotted me reading over his shoulder. But of course, I continued reading, so the 'Crows swooped in and took me. This boy was one of those 'Crows. But once I got to the prison building, he pulled me right back out and we ran. We got separated after that. but when we reunited, I fell for him. Hard. Little did I know, he was falling for me too. He helped me to get to the position I am in today, and I am eternally grateful for that. I loved him, and he loved me, and though we went through some hard times near the end, that love never ceased.

But then, a couple of weeks ago, I was captured. This boy, the Four, and MARS formed a plan to get into BLI's prison building and rescue me, which they did, and succeeded. However, on the way out, he was injured. A few minutes later, he died in my arms. I didn't speak a word to anyone from then on, until now. I would have rather talked to him. I still would.

He was known as Violent Vendetta out here. And to this day, he is my reason to fight.

BLI took everything from me. They took my family, my home, my entire life. I was forced to become someone else just to avoid being killed for what I believed. All I had was him, and they took him from me too. And that, my friends, is why we must fight for what is ours! They don't have the right to put us in boxes, to snuff out our emotions, to kill the people we love! I refuse to let them take our freedom!

We are Killjoys! And  _ KILLJOYS NEVER DIE! _ "


	34. Epilogue: Vendetta's Departure

_ Ven awakes.  _

_ He is in Battery City, next to the remains of BLI's prison building. He remembers being there, a couple of times, actually. _

_ Both of them with Alien. _

_ He doesn't want to say her real name. He isn't exactly sure why yet, but he doesn't anyway, just to make sure. _

_ "Hello there," a voice says from behind Ven. He turns, only to see the one thing he never thought he'd see. _

_ "Y-you're the Phoenix Witch," he stutters. His voice sounded smooth and calm despite his situation of not knowing what was going on. _

_ "Some call me that, yes," the feathered creature replies. "Now, you were known as Violent Vendetta in life, correct?" _

_ "Yeah," he responds. "Am I dreaming?" _

_ "No," she says casually. "You're dead." _

_ He isn't surprised, which confuses him. Then he realizes that he remembers dying, right there on the white concrete of this alley.  _

_ Al held his hands. He never wanted to leave her, but he was forced out of life by his own body. _

_ He reaches up to his cheek to find a tear rolling down it. He doesn't want to imagine what she might be going through. He wants to run to her, to envelop her in his arms, to hold her and never let go. But he can't. _

_ And it's starting to tear him apart. _

_ "Hey," the Witch calls, pushing her shopping cart. "What're you waiting for? Let's go!" _

_ He jogs to her and walks beside her. "Where are we going?" _

_ She looks at him, her white mask staring into him. "To the afterlife, of course. It's my job." _

_ "So everything they say is true? You go to the mailboxes and pick up people's souls to take to the afterlife?" _

_ "Exactly." _

_ "Can you see the future too?" Ven continues. "People say you come to them in dreams and give them warnings." _

_ "You ask too many questions," she brushes his statement off. "What was your real name?" _

_ He hesitates. He hasn't spoken his birth name in years. "Taylor Adams." There is only one person alive who knows that name. _

_ "And to answer your question," she continues, "not entirely."  _

_ Suddenly, the scenery changes. They are now floating over the Pit. Al is standing on the stage, speaking. She puts her fist in the air, and the thousands of people in the crowd yell their agreement. She is crying. _

_ He is crying too. She always had this power to command, to get people's attention.  _

_ "I can see a lot of things," the Witch begins. "I can see the present," she gestured to the scene below them. _

_ The environment changes again. They are now flying over the edges of Battery City, following a minivan's path out of the city. It is being chased by a group of motorcycles- _

_ "That's us," Ven points at the van. "Me and Al. That's when we escaped." _

_ The Witch nods. "I can see the past as well. However, the future is not always clear." _

_ They are now on the sand in the Zones, next to a mailbox. The Witch begins pulling masks and other various items from the box and putting them into her shopping cart.  _

_ He begins to think. One more question comes to his mind. "Can you change the future?" _

_ She chuckles. "Of course not. No one can do that. But I can watch over people, protect them, if they need it." _

_ He knows what he has to do. "Can you protect her?" he asks. "Alien. She needs it more than anyone right now." _

_ The Witch pauses for a moment. "She has an entire army behind her. She has the support of thousands of people. She doesn't need protection." _

_ Ven hesitates before his next statement. "But she doesn't have anyone to hold on to. Everyone that supports her does that, but none of them really know her. She feels completely and utterly alone right now."  _

_ The Witch considers this. "Well, I suppose that makes sense. And I can see that this isn't just an empty blessing. You want her to be happy, more than anything else. That makes a difference." _

_ "I love her," he said. He felt more sure about it than every other thing he'd ever said. _

_ "Yes, yes you do," she said calmly. "I suppose I could keep an eye on her." _

_ He hadn't realized that he was crying again until that moment. "Thank you. Thank you so much." _

_ And finally, Taylor Adams was at peace. _


End file.
